Chicago & Illinois Labor History: Our untold story. It’s relevance today
A workshop at the CivicLab on Tuesday, January 21, 6:30-8:30pm. 114 N. Aberdeen Street. $10.
Register online at https://labor-history-1-21.eventbrite.com.
Presented by Larry Spivack, President of the Illinois Labor History Society and Regional Director with AFSCME Council 31, the largest public employee union in the state and the country, participants will walk through a multi media presentation about the richest labor history in the world in order to develop a better sense of the legacy of the fight for social justice and economic justice.
This story will be told through slides and videos and general discussion. Many of today’s social issues were shaped by struggles and important historical events of year’s past. Working people were the major influence in these events and many of the stories are rarely told or interpreted accurately. Chicago and Illinois are home to some of the worlds’ most important historical events concerning workers and how we got here.
This class will help activists and the general public apply the connection between the struggles today in democratizing our economy by learning about the rich and incredible story of how we got here and where we are headed. This class often motivates individuals to become more active in their union or organization that has an affinity with the general principles of workers rights and labor solidarity.
About the instructor: Larry Spivack is a life long labor activist, educator, lay historian and promoter of social justice. His work is informed through his many years of labor organizing, collective bargaining negotiations, teaching labor history and being in the trenches for over 30 years. A former teacher in the public school system and rank and file leader for AFSCME, Larry continues his work as an AFSCME staff person, and is President of the most distinguished labor history Society in the country. The Illinois Labor History Society (ILHS) is the deed holder and steward of the most important labor site in the world, The Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Forest Park, Illinois. It is also the steward of the Emma Goldman monument. The ILHS has helped bring National Landmark status to many of the State’s most important labor sites including The Union Miner’s cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois where Mother Jones is buried, the Union Stockyard Gate in Chicago and of course the Haymarket Martyrs Monument. It helped lead a 30 year campaign to get a statue at Haymarket Square and leads the May Day event every year at Haymarket Square in Chicago The ILHS is a partner in trying to get National Park Status for the Pullman community on Chicago’s South Side. The ILHS leads labor history tours and works every day to bring the untold story of America to the people.