John L. Lewis: A Giant Among Labor Leaders
A dominant figure in labor history, John L. Lewis was the founding force behind several national unions and a leader of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) for more than 40 years. In aiding the union struggle for better wages and benefits, he...
Joe Hill: Labor’s Legendary Troubadour
At sunrise on Nov. 19, 1915, a firing squad at the Utah State Penitentiary executed a labor activist who many people believed had been falsely convicted of murder.
Nearly a century later, the legend of “Joe Hill” is frequently invoked in the ongoing...
Frances Perkins: Trailblazer for Workers’ Rights
In an era when few women had risen to positions of prominence, Frances Perkins in 1933 became the nation’s first female cabinet secretary. During her long tenure as Secretary of the Department of Labor, she was a trailblazer for workers’ rights,...
The Post Office Department and Jim Crow
Although slavery had been outlawed, there were virtually no laws or regulations after the Civil War that provided African-Americans with protection against racial discrimination on the job, unless they worked for the federal government.In 1883, as...
Postal Landscape Includes Art of the New Deal
If the facility you work in was built during the Great Depression, chances are that its public lobby features a unique work of art. Though many post offices have undergone repeated renovations, most of the art has been preserved. Today, about 1,000...