Good evening, Kibitzers!
I hear that it’s not raining in California this week! It appears to be raining/snowing nearly everywhere else. I guess that’s fair. There’s been almost no snow here this winter, so the bit of snow Monday afternoon was pretty.
There’s more snow to come Wednesday, apparently only to be immediately washed away by rain. (This afternoon, I’ve been following a tornado outbreak near Houston with some concern. I hope our Texans will check in!)
Theodor Severin Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist, which is why his handsome snowstorm at right is entitled “November”. I suppose that such weather is no longer seen in Norway in November either. Thanks to Onomastic for an introduction to Kittelsen’s work.
For some reason, I was feeling like reviewing some labor history today. Maybe it was reading the latest news this afternoon — on the lookout for an update. (If you’re interested in signing the DKG’s petition, see Glen The Plumber’s helpful comment with link and good advice.)
Vox discusses how the work of photographer Lewis Wickes Hine helped end the widespread practice of child labor in the US at the turn of the last century. You can see all of Hine’s images at the Library of Congress. [6:35]
At the 100th anniversary (in 2011) of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, the United Steel Workers produced this video to let us know that the awful conditions afflicting workers at that factory are the same or worse today for garment workers in other parts of the world. »The film has its own warning, but there are definitely images of dead people, not tight closeups but still, upsetting and you may choose to skip, or listen without looking. There’s not just one section to avoid. [9:18]
Time has a The History You Didn't Learn video series. This episode discusses Latina labor leaders who are not as well-known as they should be. [8:35]
The Labor Education Service at the University of Minnesota has created numerous videos on labor history. This one describes the Lawrence (MA) Textile Strike in 1912, in which immigrant workers, aided by the Industrial Workers of the World, faced off against the giant textile mills that produced much of the fabric then sold in the US. The slogan/poem/song Bread and Roses is associated with textile strikes, and the Lawrence strike in particular — performance later in the diary.
(This is an excellent 2020 short piece in Wonkette, about women of the labor movement. It specifically mentions Anna LoPizzo, the striker shot by Lawrence police when, tiring of hoses and other forms of violence, they opened fire on a crowd. It’s packed with the stories of other women leaders too.) [6:18]
Roy Zimmerman aims his finely-honed snark machine at people who don’t like unions while they enjoy the now-common conditions and benefits that unions brought to workers in general. Bonus brief labor-history lesson at the end. [4:18]
Women of the World Ayumi Ueda, Annette Philip, Débo Ray, and Giorgia Renosto bring us a beautiful (and updated) rendition of Bread and Roses with the Mimi Fariña melody. [3:57]
At Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday Concert, in Madison Square Garden in 2009, Union Maid is offered by Billy Bragg, Mike & Ruthy Merenda, Dar Williams, and the New York City Labor Chorus. [3:24]