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September
05
September
05

Sidney Lens: The Unrepentant Radical

Posted under Research by Heidi Samuelson

For Labor Day, we’re highlighting the work of labor leader, antiwar activist, and author Sidney Lens, whose papers are archived at CHM. Ask about them on your next visit to the Abakanowicz Research Center. Staughton Lynd, Rev. James Bevel, Sidney Lens (second from left), and Richard Flacks of the Chicago Area Draft Resisters speak at More

May
01
May
01

The Teamsters Union in Chicago

Posted under Research by Heidi Samuelson

In recognition of International Workers’ Day, we’re spotlighting the Teamsters Union and its history in Chicago. Historically, the term “teamsters” referred to commercial road transportation workers. Before 1945, most teamsters worked locally, driving “teams” of horses throughout Chicago. By the late twentieth century, national road networks enabled an interstate trucking industry, which employed many long-haul More

May
30
May
30

Remembering the Memorial Day Massacre

Posted under Stories by Peter T. Alter

In this blog post, CHM chief historian and Studs Terkel Center for Oral History director Peter T. Alter talks about a major event in Chicago and national labor history that is often excluded from standard historical interpretations. He sits on the website advisory board of the Southeast Chicago Historical Society, which recently launched a new More

September
04
September
04

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Posted under Stories by Brittany Hutchinson

To mark Labor Day and Chicago’s long history of labor activism, CHM assistant curator Brittany Hutchinson recounts how the Pullman Company’s porters formed the first all-Black labor union in the US to address low wages, long hours, and mistreatment from passengers.   In August 1925, A. Philip Randolph was elected president the newly formed Brotherhood More

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