Labor History Bookstore

A comprehensive account of the explosive strike situation which swept the country following the Baltimore and Ohio rail line from Maryland to Chicago. The climax to four years of depression was the nearest thing to a general strike that America has ever seen. (384pp)

The biography of Frank Lumpkin, African American steelworker in Chicago who led the struggle when the Wisconsin Steel mill was abruptly closed. He led the successful fight for severance compensation. The book begins with his youth in Georgia, his introduction to the Communist Party, and details the long battle for justice at Wisconsin Steel, not a USWA plant. (254pp)

A complilation of photographs and documents of George Pullman's model town contructed in 1880 and the people who lived there in its historic era. (128pp, with over 200 illustrations and photographs)

A photo collection from the first half of this century depicting people and community life in Chicago's Southside where steel making was the dominant industry. (128pp)

Detailed map of all burials surrounding Haymarket Martyrs Monument along with biographical information. (33pp)

The story of the Chicago packinghouse workers and their remarkable union, the United Packinghouse Workers of America CIO (UPWA). Easy reading, rich in fascinating detail, it tells how a center-left union beat the odds and created a democratic and effective organization. Its black and white unity was unparalleled. (309pp)

The premier biography of John Peter Altgeld, the Governor of Illinois, who opposed use of Federal troops in the Pullman Strike of 1894, pardoned the Haymarket anarchists, passed the first factory sanitation law, appointed a woman as Chief Factory Inspector and built the modern University of Illinois system. A well-written and beautiful book about a heroic figure, only in hard cover and what a price! (496pp)

A nifty little collection of passages from the most famous speeches by America's foremost Socialist. Chapter headings: Why I Became a Socialist; What's the Matter with Chicago?; The Negro and Class Struggle; The Gunman and the Miners; Woman - Comrade and Equal; etc… (205pp)

A concise yet complete biography of Debs from railroad union organizer and officer to Socialist Party candidate for President. In 1920 he drew almost 1,000,000 votes, although incarcerated in a federal prison. (265pp)

In this booklet, Watts reveals the secret purpose behind the great demonstration of 1882, names the true originator of that parade, and puts you on the reviewing stand as each contingent passes by. Loaded with illustrations. (72pp)

Franklin Rosemont offers an insightful introduction to Chicago's "College of Complexes" where author Slim Brundage presided over a galaxy of radical personalities and freethinkers of every persuasion. (175pp)

A pocket tour-guide to all the sites connected to the story of Chicago's Haymarket tragedy of 1886 with text describing the significance of each site. (137pp)

A magnificent collection of pictures and other images with explanatory text collected from the world over. The historical impact of the Haymarket tragedy of 1886 becomes abundantly clear in the pages of this oversize (8.25"x11.25") book. (255pp)

A fascinating collection of writings by steelworkers about their real life experiences, the people they knew, and the legends that hey learned aas mill hands. A delightful read. (158pp)

Reprint of the I.W.W.'s "Little Red Songbook" of 1923. Contains works to 52 songs. Pocket size. (64pp)

This greatest of all the fictional accounts of working-class life has been reprinted by the University of Illinois Press with an introduction and notes by Dr. James Barrett (University of Illinois, Urbana). It is a beautiful, easy to read, large type book with illustrations. A perfect gift. (353pp)

Labor Leaders in America - Dubofsky and Van Tine

Biographical sketches of fifteen labor leaders from William Sylvis, Terence Powderly and Samuel Gompers to Cesar Chavez. Each author is a well-known scholar of labor history. (396pp)

May Day, A Short History - Philip S. Foner

Foner tells the history of May 1st as the International Workers' Day of Solidarity and demonstration. He traces it connection to the tragic events of May 4, 1886 in Chicago, now known as the Haymarket Tragedy. Well ilustrated. (184pp)

Meatpackers: An Oral History of Black Workers and Their Struggles - Halpern and Horowitz

Swift and Company butcher Phil Weightman gives his acount of the journey from Mississippi farm boy to International Vice President of the International Packinghouse Workers (CIO). A fascinating and illuminating story. Lots of pictures. (166pp)

"Negro and White, Unite and Fight!": A Social History of Meatpacking 1930-90 - Roger Horowitz

Essentially the story of the CIO in meatpacking. Describes organizational tactics in Chicago and Missouri River packing centers. Very insightful. (373pp) )

A beautifully written memoir. She was a fourteen-year-old girl in a Minnesota meatpacking town when the great strike of 1959 created a major crisis in the community. The daughter of a packinghouse worker, she clearly understood the stakes in that struggle. (280pp)

163p - Softcover - $13.95

The focus is on the trial of Debs as leader of the landmark anti-labor unjunction case of 1894. Clarence Darrow for the defense.(118pp)

187 - Softcover - $12.95

The Pullman Strike - William H. Carwardine

Written by the Methodist Minister of Pullman to explain why the worker residences of Pullman's model town went on strike in 1894. (126pp)

Reasons for Pardoning the Haymarket Anarchists -
John Peter Altgeld

A little booklet, containing the complete text of Governor John Peter Altgeld's Pardon Message signed on June 26, 1893. (63pp)

Strike! - Jeremy Brecher

By far the best overview of U.S. labor history from the Great Upheaval of 1877 to the recent Teamsters strike at UPS. 1977 edition. (417pp)

Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered - Jack Metzgar

Not so much the story of a strike, this book is a personal account of working class life in a Bethlehem Steel dominated town, where the coming of the CIO Steel Workers Union in the late 1930's, created a whole new ballgame! The nature of this change is the essence of Metzgar's powerful and fascinating account. The outcome of the 1959 steel strike becomes the high point in this story of "before and after" the arrival of unionism in steel. (264pp)

Small format, sixty-four pages packed with quotations and documents in a concise summary of labor history from the late 1700's to the present. 64 pages

188 - Softcover - $7.95

Drawing on great historical moments (the story of Haymarket and ILHS is one such), the author shows how labor history becomes a powerful force in the shaping of current responses to contemporary issues. (340pp)

Touring Pullman - William J. Adelman

Our handy self-guided tour to Chicago's famous neighborhood. Walk the streets with this booklet in your hand and you will get the picture of the Pullman community and the Pullman strike of 1894. 1993 centennial. (46pp)

Toys of Desperation: A Haymarket Mural in Verse - Harold Zlotnik

This amazing book, in verse, tells the Haymarket story with a poem for every character in that great drama. Well illustrated. Like nothing you have ever seen before. (344pp)

Union Brotherhood, Union Town: History of Carpenters of Chicago - Richard Schneirov and Thomas J. Suhrbur

Reads like an adventure story, but carries the reader through the organization, by trial and error of the carpenters and other building tradesman of the Chicago region. In the pages, watch the strategy develop for effective collective bargaining in the building trades. Illustrations. (211pp)