Selected Resources on Minnesota's Farmer-Labor Movement An
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Selected Resources on Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Movement An Introductory Guide for Students, Educators and the Interested Public Note: This is a first edition of an expandable resource developed by the Farmer-Labor Education Committee (FLEC). This preliminary edition is focused on resources available on-line through the Minnesota Historical Society and also includes a preview of additional resources that will become available on the Farmer-Labor Education Committee Web Site in March, 2015. For information on FLEC, contact Tom O’Connell at [email protected] Part 1: On-Line Resources Available from the Minnesota Historical Society. A. Photographs. The Minnesota Historical Societies extensive photograph collections can be accessed at www.mnhs.org Click on “Research” and then “Collections.” The search terms below are relevant for a wide range of Farmer-Labor related themes. Search term: “Cooperatives” (407 images). During the 1930s producer and consumer cooperatives represented both a practical economic alternative and in many cases an important social base for the Farmer-Labor movement. This collection includes images of some of Minnesota’s earliest cooperatives as well as those that flourished in the 30’s and beyond. By the mid-1930s, Minnesota led the nation in the number of cooperative enterprises. It still does. Search term: “Farmer Labor” (180 images). This search term provided the best source of photos on the Farmer-Labor Party. Most of those included, however, were of the DFL or not directly related to the FLP itself. Below is a complete listing of some of the more relevant. Farmer-Labor Convention, Minneapolis. 1922. Farmer-Labor Convention, St. Paul, 1930. A Farmer-Labor Rally against Fascism. 1938. Vote Farmer Labor All the Way. Campaign Poster. 1936. Charles Lindberg, FLP Candidate for Governor, 1918. Farmer-Labor Political Poster atop an automobile. Circa 1933 Senator Ernest Lundeen, Farmer Labor Candidate for Senator Campaign Poster. 1936. Minneapolis Street Corner showing the FLP headquarters. 1937. Senator Ernest Lundeen, Farmer Labor Candidate for SenatorCampaign Poster. 1936 Farmer-Labor Party of Hennepin County choose delegates. 1936. Charles Munn, Chairman of the FLP at the party convention. 1937. Vote Straight Farmer-Labor Ticket, Elect Shirley Edelson. 1940. 1 Governor Elmer Benson speaking at FLP convention, Duluth. 1938 Campaign Literature for Hjalmar Peterson, FLP candidate for governor, 1938. Farmer Labor Association quilt made by 1980’s FLA members. Progressive meet to discuss forming national third party. 1937 Governor Elmer Benson at Litchfield on the way to deliver keynote address. 1938. Henry Teigen, Magnus Johnson, and Arthur Townley circa 1930. Search term: “Farmer Protests” (19 images). Included here are several photographs of the Farm Holiday movement demonstrating at the state capital and joining forces with the unemployed to demand relief. The collection also includes images of subsequent farm protests in the latter half of the twentieth century. Search term: “Labor Unions” (95 images). A rich collection of images that illustrate the wide variety of unions and union members from the turn of the 19th century to today. This series of photos reinforce the idea that unions are not only economic organizations but expressions of working class culture over time. Search term: “Political Action Organizations” (169 images). Photos here include an eclectic mix documenting Minnesota social movements. There are photographs of a Peace Rally in downtown Minneapolis (1936), the People’s Lobby at the state legislature (1937) and controversial radio priest, Father Charles E. Coughlan speaking at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds (1937). The women’s suffrage movement and the League of Women Voters are extensively represented as well as the Klu Klux Klan. Search Term: “Socialist Party” (59 images). Although always a political minority, socialists played a significant role in Minnesota’s history. This collection includes images of socialists in early 20th century Minnesota and numerous photographs of the Socialist Workers Party which played a major role in the labor and political struggles of the 1930s and beyond. Search term: “Strikes” (430 images). The photographs listed under this search term document many of the most critical labor strikes in Minnesota history. There is a large collection of photos of the 1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis, a turning point for labor in Minneapolis and the state as a whole. Other images include (but not limited to: Telegraphers (1907) Twin Cities Rapid Transit, St. Paul (1917) Hormel sit down strike. Austin (1932). Struttwear Knitting (1935) 2 Ornamental Iron Workers, Minneapolis. 1935 Duluth Newspaper Guild, 1938. WPA strike, 1939 Meatpackers, South St. Paul. 1948 Minneapolis Teachers Strike, 1948. Search term:“Floyd B. Olson.” (358 imgages). This extensive collection includes images that show Olson at work in the governor’s mansion, at rallies and on the campaign trail. Also included are images of him as a young man, and with his family. Taken as a whole, these photo’s portray the energy and charisma of the Farmer-Labor governor and provide a window into his popularity and success. Other Leaders (search by name). Arthur Townley, founder of North Dakota’s Non-Partisan League and Minnesota FLP leader Elmer Benson (Farmer-Labor governor, (1936-38). Farrell Dobbs, socialist leader of Teamsters Local 584 Ignatius Donnelly, Minnesota’s most influential 19th century Populist Magnus Johnson, Farmer- Labor Senator (1922 to ) and movement leader. Henrik Shipstedt Farmer-Labor Senator (1922- 1940). Hjalmar Peterson, Farmer-Labor governor (1936-38) and leader of the FLP’s anti-communist faction Harry Peterson, Farmer-Labor Party Attorney General and party leader. WPA (5,256 images). The Works Progress Administration, commonly known as the WPA provided public employment for thousands of Minnesotans during the 1930’s. This collection documents that impressive variety of projects supported by the WPA and the workers who carried them out. From constructing public buildings to staffing libraries and creating art, the WPA left an indelible mark on communities across Minnesota—and the nation. B. Oral History Interviews Transcripts of the interviews below can be accessed at www.mnhs.org Unless otherwise indicated, the interviews are listed under the Twentieth Century Radicalism Project. Albert Allen. Allen discusses his role as a founding member and vice –president of the Local 665, Hotel Restaurant Workers , his work as Minneapolis president of the NAACP and as organizer of Clerical Workers Union, Local 3015 at the Minneapolis airport. 3 Rosalind M. Belmont. Belmont organized hotel maids for local 665 in the late 1930s. She discusses her mother’s labor experience in New York and her own activism with the National Student League and Young Communist League as a student at the University of Minnesota. Earl Bester. Bester was a leader organizer of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee and went on to become Duluth/Iron Range district director of the United Steel Workers. The interview covers the period from 1936 to 1955 and the merger of the AFL and CIO. Elmer Benson (interviews can be found in the MHS oral history collection under the heading, “Politics and Government.” Elmer Benson was elected Farmer-Labor governor in 1936. He served one term. He remained active through the merger with the Democrats in 1944, battled Hubert Humphrey for influence in the new DFL and was a national leader in Henry Wallace’s campaign for President in 1948. Anthur Borchardt. Borchardt was active in the Non-Partisan League and the formation of the Farmer- Labor Party in Pine County and served on the merger committee of the DFL. The interview offers insights on farm organizing in Pine County as well as the influence of the Communist Party. Alan Bruce. Bruce was state director of the WPA Worker Education Program in the 1940s. He discusses the influence of both Communists and Trotskyists on the WPA and offers insights into the militant labor movement of the time. Elizabeth Huff Bruce. Bruce was a social worker at the East Side Neighborhood House and Minneapolis YWCA during the 30s and 40s as well director of the cultural section of the WPA Worker Education Program. The interview offers insight into the role of social-service organizations in community life. Ernest DeMaio. Demaio was a key organizer of the United Electoral, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) in Minnesota and in 1940 became UE regional director based in Chicago. A member of the Communist Party, the UE was expelled along with other left-wing unions after supporting Henry Wallace against Harry Truman in the 1948 presidential election. George Dizzard. Dizzard was a key figure in Duluth’s labor, Farmer-Labor and progressive movement in the 1940s through the 1960s. This interview offers insight on the St. Louis County DFL shortly after the merger, 8th District politics and Henry Wallace’s 1948 presidential campaign. Erwin Drill. An organizer of the Gas, Coke, and Chemical Workers Union, Drill discusses life in Duluth during the 1930s and left- wing leadership in the Duluth Labor movement. Vincent Raymond Dunne (interview can be found in the oral history collection under “Social Issues”). Dunne grew up on a farm in central Minnesota and joined IWW (International Workers of the World) as a migrant worker on the West Coast. He joined the Communist party in the 1920s but became a Trotskyite. A leader of the truckers’ strike of 1934, Dunne remained active in the labor movement and the Socialist Workers Party though out his life. Alma Howe Foley. Foley was an activist for civil rights and the unemployed in Duluth and Minneapolis. An active Communist, she headed the state chapter of the International Labor Defense Committee, 4 1935-1940 and the Minnesota Chapter of the American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born. Bernice Fossum. Fossum was a member of the Minneapolis Theater Union and as a member if the Communist Party was active in the Twin Cities radical labor movement in the 1930s.