Workers and Unions in Wisconsin: A Labor History Anthology

Book Description
Wisconsin accounts for about two percent of the nation's total population, but its contribution to the history of working people and social reform extends far beyond these numbers. In the early years of the twentieth century, Wisconsin became a veritable laboratory for social and political reform, producing such landmark legislation as workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, and other laws that became models for several states and helped shape federal labor policies. The study of the history of labor also began in Wisconsin when University of Wisconsin economics professor John R. Commons started to document the history of work and labor in America. Workers and Unions in Wisconsin includes nearly one hundred selections covering the period from 1850 to 1990, illustrated by scores of historic photos, most of which have never before been reprinted. Editor Darryl Holter has included accounts of episodes that took place in more than twenty-five cities and towns in Wisconsin, including labor activities at such nationally known companies as Oscar Mayer, Kohler, Case, Allis-Chalmers, and Ray-O-Vac and workers as diverse as dairy farmers and university teaching assistants, lumberjacks and hosiery makers, municipal employees and paper mill workers. The result is a book that will fascinate and inform anyone interested in American labor history and economics, as well as in the personal stories that are part of any great societal change. Workers and Unions in Wisconsin is a comprehensive anthology of labor's history in the state that produced such landmark legislation as workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, and other laws that became models for state and federal governments. It includes nearly one hundred selections from a wide variety sources covering the period from 1850 to 1990, illustrated by scores of historic photos. It includes accounts of labor activities at such companies as Oscar Mayer, Kohler, Case, Allis-Chalmers, and Ray-O-Vac, and workers as diverse as dairy farmers and university teaching assistants, lumberjacks and hosiery makers, municipal employees and paper mill workers. The result is a book that will fascinate and inform anyone interested in American labor history and economics, as well as in the personal stories that are part of any great societal change. A detailed index of all proper names makes it easy for relatives to trace the activities of former labor leaders and union activists.

About the Author
Darryl Holter is adjunct professor of history and lecturer in policy studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was formerly the education director and legislative representative for the Wisconsin state AFL-CIO, editor of Wisconsin Labor News, and a founder of the Wisconsin Labor History Society. He also writes and performs labor songs and has appeared in concert with Pete Seeger and Joe Glazer. With Larry Penn, he recorded an album, "Songs from Wisconsin's Labor History."


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The result is a book that will fascinate and inform anyone interested in American labor history and economics, as well as in the personal stories that are part of any great societal change.


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