Labor History Today

A labor walk in Wheeling


Listen Later

Walter Reuther’s name is forever linked to Detroit, Michigan, where he and his brother Victor built the United Automobile Workers -- the UAW -- into one of the largest and most progressive labor unions in American history. In Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was born on September 1, 1907, Reuther is a hometown boy who made good.

Each year for the last eight years, the Wheeling Academy of Law and Science Foundation (WALS) has organized the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium on Labor Day weekend. The annual event also celebrates the life and work of local stogie maker -- and union supporter -- Augustus Pollack.
LHT producers Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon drove out to Wheeling last Friday to cover the symposium, which included presentations by “Shift Happens” author J. Albert Mann, labor journalist Hamilton Nolan, West Virginia Mine Wars Museum co-founder Lou Martin and the Pittsburgh Labor Choir. We’ll be sharing audio from those presentations in upcoming shows.
West Virginia historian Hal Gorby led a walking tour on Saturday to statues of both Reuther and Pollack in a park along the Ohio River in downtown Wheeling. The noontime walk was interrupted by an intense but thankfully brief mountain thunderstorm, so you’ll hear the rain and thunder in the background as we took shelter and the intrepid Dr. Gorby continued his local history talk beneath his oversized umbrella.

On this week’s Labor History in Two:  the year was 1921. On that day the “Battle of Blair Mountain” raged in Logan County, West Virginia. 

Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at [email protected]

Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

@FoundationWals @hamiltonnolan @JAlbertMann @WarsWV @UAW_Archivist @ReutherLibrary #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Labor History TodayBy laborhistorytoday

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

22 ratings


More shows like Labor History Today

View all
The NPR Politics Podcast by NPR

The NPR Politics Podcast

25,872 Listeners

Jacobin Radio by Jacobin

Jacobin Radio

1,449 Listeners

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio by Milk Street Radio

Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio

2,982 Listeners

Rev Left Radio by Revolutionary Left Radio

Rev Left Radio

3,308 Listeners

Citations Needed by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson

Citations Needed

3,907 Listeners

The Daily Show: Ears Edition by Comedy Central

The Daily Show: Ears Edition

14,313 Listeners

Working Class History by Working Class History

Working Class History

606 Listeners

Strict Scrutiny by Crooked Media

Strict Scrutiny

5,769 Listeners

5-4 by Prologue Projects

5-4

3,517 Listeners

Blowback by Blowback

Blowback

3,080 Listeners

Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly by laborradiopodcastweekly

Labor Radio-Podcast Weekly

14 Listeners

Labor Heritage Power Hour by Christopher Garlock

Labor Heritage Power Hour

5 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,051 Listeners

On the Nose by Jewish Currents

On the Nose

233 Listeners

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

10,910 Listeners