Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor: Volumes 1&2

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Like the recent Work in America [RBB My 1 04], this wonderful resource redresses the absence of the organized labor movement in American social history reference material. The struggles and achievements of women and minority groups continue to be documented in information resources, but until now organized labor's story has been lacking. The authors, history professors in Massachusetts who have written about the working class, have enlisted 79 other contributors, primarily from universities in the Northeast.The 400 alphabetically arranged and signed entries on unions, leaders, statutes, court cases, and terms range from one paragraph to several pages, as the subject requires. Cross-references, highlighted related entries, exact birth and death dates, and suggested readings with each entry are very helpful.Important leaders, such as Dolores Huerta, who worked with Cesar Chavez in organizing farm workers, and significant but less known organizations (for example, 9 to 5, the National Association of Working Women) have prominent entries. Both are mentioned in Work in America but only in a larger context. The earlier resource does have a four-page article on the North American Free Trade Agreement, as compared with one paragraph in the current work. It also has solid entries on ergonomics, workplace safety, and Native Americans, which are not included here. Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor is very good on social and leadership changes in unionism; women and minority issues; political radicalism throughout labor history; and economic changes, such as automation and globalization. It is balanced and accurate.The 55 alphabetically arranged documents in the appendix, many of them little known, encompass nineteenth- and twentieth-century statutes, worker interviews, congressional testimony, passages from literature, and articles. An extensive 12-page bibliography of books and Web sites, an accurate index, and 100 illustrations enhance the work.Outstanding in concept, coverage, layout, and documentation, this work is highly recommended for public, academic and high-school libraries even if they have the earlier work. It will be useful for student reports, research projects, and learning about less known people, ideas, events, and organizations that have been crucial in American history. RBB
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Review
This excellent A-to-Z traces American labor history from Colonial times to the present....This illustrated set is recommended for academic and public libraries.Library Journal

Book Description
The history of the American labor movement is filled with advances, triumphs, setbacks, decline, and resurgence. This two-volume A-Z resource covers the history of organized labor in all of its complexity, from the dawn of the industrial revolution to the "post-industrial age."


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This excellent A-to-Z traces American labor history from Colonial times to the present. Nearly 400 entries, written by 81 scholars and journalists, cover people, places, events, organizations, laws, court cases, and labor terms. Running in length from a paragraph to several pages, the entries contain cross references as well as lists of suggested readings and cover topics like the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the Bridgestone-Firestone strike of 1994-1995, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), George Meany, scabs, and yellow dog contracts, to name a few. Volume 2 also includes 55 contracts, laws, songs, articles and other primary documents that played important roles on labor history. Bottom Line A nice complement to ABC-CLIO's Work in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Policy and Society (2003), this illustrated set is recommended for academic and public libraries.-Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Parkersburg Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.


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