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. .

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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)

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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.

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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,

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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. She discusses the radical artist community, strike support, solidarity with the Loyalists during the Spanish Civil War and harassment by the FBI.

Max Geldman. Geldman discusses his experience as a young Trotskyist, the development of the unemployed movement in 1934 and the WPA strike in 1939. He was convicted in 1941 for violations of the Smith Act.

Irwin Herness. Active in Farmer-Politics, Herness worked for the Co—op division of the Department of Agriculture promoting rural electrical cooperatives. He discusses the Farmer-Labor Party, Governors Floyd B. Olson and Elmer Benson, anti-communism within the FL-P and the DFL merger.

Nellie Stone Johnson. (Separate interviews included in both the Twentieth Century Radicalism and Minnesota Black History Project). These interview include Johnson’s early life in Pine County where her father was active in the Non-Partisan League and rural cooperatives, her experience organizing Local 665 of the Hotel Workers Union, her views on both the Farmer-Labor and DFL parties and reflections on

Jack Maloney. Mahoney began his career as a member of the IWW, became a leader of the Teamsters Local 574 and remained an active labor militant throughout the 1930s and beyond. He gives detailed accounts of the 1934 strike and other labor actions and shares stories about Floyd B. Olson, the Dunne brothers and other key leaders of the era.

Jenny Mayville. Mayville was active in the Minneapolis labor movement and radical community during the 1930s. She discusses the Flour City Ornamental Iron Workers Strike of 1935, women’s auxiliary work for strikes, the FL-P, social life within the activist community and the communist party,

Orville Olson. Olson was a leading “insider” of the Farmer-Labor movement and Farmer-Labor administrations. He discusses the administration of state relief programs in rural Minnesota, his role as advisor to Governor Elmer Benson, his involvement with the left wing of the FLP, the merger with the Democrats and the 1948 campaign for Henry Wallace.

Leata Wigg Pearson. Pearson was active in Duluth radical and labor politics as well the American Youth Congress and the Young Communist League. This interview covers these and other experiences as well as interaction with the FBI in the 40s and 50s.

Frank Puglisi. Active in Farmer-Labor Politics in northern Minnesota during the 1930s, Puglisi discusses Farmer-Labor Clubs, political patronage and Elmer Benson.

Carl Ross. Ross held numerous positions in the Communist Party in the 1930s and 40s including head of the Minnesota-Dakota region. Later he became a scholar of Finnish-American radicalism and directed the 20th Century Radicalism in Minnesota Project. In this lengthy interview he describes the evolution of

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Finnish radicalism, the Communist party, its relationship to the Farmer Labor Party and CIO ,and his later career as a businessman and scholar.

Clarence Sharp. Sharp organized in rural Minnesota as well as South Dakota, first as a socialist and later as a member of the Communist Party. He provides insight into farm activism, Communist party politics and the eventual demise of the party.

C. Articles from Minnesota History Magazine organized by subject or theme.

The following articles can be accessed online at the Minnesota History Magazine. You can find the link to the magazine at www.mnhs.org or connect directly at http://www.mnhs.org/market/mhspress/minnesotahistory/

Roots of the Farmer-Labor Party

Chrislock, Carl H. “The Alliance Party and the Minnesota Legislature of 1891.” Minnesota History 35 (September 1957): 297-312.

Haynes, John Earl. “The New Times: A frustrated Voice of Socialism. 1910-1919.” Minnesota History 52 (Spring 1991):183-194.

Kolnick, Jeffrey. “Rural Urban Conflict and Farmer-Labor Politics, Blue Earth County, 1885- 1886. Minnesota History 54 (Spring 1994): 32-45.

Jenson, Carol. “Loyalty as a Political Weapon: The 1918 Campaign in Minnesota.” Minnesota History 43 (Summer 1972): 43-57.

Milliken, William. “ In Defense of Business: The Minneapolis Civic and Commerce Association During World War 1.” Minnesota History 50 (Spring 1986): 2-17.

Morlan, Robert L. “The Non-Partisan League and the Minnesota Campaign of 1918.” Minnesota History 34 (Summer 1955): 221-232..

Naftalin, Arthur. “The Tradition of Protest and the Roots of the Farmer-Labor Party.” Minnesota History 35 (June 1956): 52-63.

Nord, David Paul. “Minneapolis and the Pragmatic Socialism of Thomas Van Lear.” Minnesota History 45 (Spring 1976): 3-10.

Farm, Labor and Unemployed Worker Organizing in the 20th Century.

Alaanen, Arnold R. “Early Labor Strife on Minnesota’s Mining Frontier, 1882-1906. Minnesota History 52 (Fall 1991) 246-263.

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Bader, Mary Christine. “Sisters in Toil: St Paul’s First Union of Garment Workers.” Minnesota History 60 (Spring 2006): 26-39.

Betten, Neil. “Riot, Revolution, Repression in the Iron Range Strike of 1916.” Minnesota History 40 (Summer 1968): 82-94.

Neil, Betten. “Strike on the Mesabi-1907.” Minnesota History 40 (Fall 1967):340 -347.

Delton, Jennifer. Labor, Politics and African- American Identity in Minneapolis 1930-1950. Minnesota History 57 (Winter 2001-2002): 418-434.

Erickson, Herman, “WPA strike and Trial of 1939.” Minnesota History 42 (Summer 1971): 203- 214

Haynes, John Earl, “Revolt of the Timber Beasts: IWW Lumber Strikes in Minnesota.” Minnesota History 42 (Spring 1971): 162-174.

Hemphill, Stephanie. “Women in the Mines.” Minnesota History 61 (Fall 2008): 92-101.

Hyman, Colette. “Culture as Strategy: Popular Front Politics and the Minneapolis Theatre Union, 1935-39.” Minnesota History 52 (Winter 1991) 294-306.

Koch, Raymond. “Politics and Relief in Minneapolis During the 1930s.” Minnesota History 41 (Winter 1968):153-170.

Nielson, Kim. “Who Were These Farmer Radicals? The Douglas County Farm Holiday Association.” Minnesota History 45 (Fall 1989): 270-285.

Pruitt, Mary C. “Lady Organizer: Sabrie G. Akin and the Labor World.” Minnesota History 52 (Summer 1991): 206-219.

Quam, Lois and Peter Rachleff. “Keeping Minneapolis an Open-Shop Town: The Citizens Alliance in the 1930s.” Minnesota History 50 (Fall 1986): 105-117.

Schultz, Robert. “More than Wages: Twin Cities Theater Workers Control Struggles.” Minnesota History 56 (Winter 1993) 323-333.

Starr, Karen. “Fighting for the Future: Farm Women of the Nonpartisan League.” Minnesota History 48 (Summer1983): 255-262.

The Farmer-Labor Party

Garlid, George. “The Anti-War Dilemma of the Farmer-Labor Party.” Minnesota History 40 (Summer 1967)365-374

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Hulbo, Paul. “The Farmer-Labor Association, Minnesota’s Party Within a Party.” Minnesota History 38 (September 1963): 301-309.

Mitau, G. Theodore. “The Democractic-Farmer-Labor Party Schism of 1948.” Minnesota History 34 (Spring 1955): 18-194.

Morlan, Robert L. “The Non-Partisan League and the Minnesota Campaign of 1918.” Minnesota History 34 (Summer 1955): 221-232.

Stuhler, Barbara. “The One Man Who Voted Nay: The Story of John T. Bernard’s Quarrel with American Foreign Policy: 1937-38.” Minnesota History 43 (Fall 1972): 83-92.

Wefald, Jon M. “Congressman Knud Wefald: A Minnesota Voice for Farm Parity.” Minnesota History 38 (Dec 1962):177-185.

D. MNOPEDIA

MNOPEDIA (www.mnopedia.org) is an online encyclopedia of Minnesota history sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society. It is also a work in progress with new entries submitted on an ongoing basis. Below is a list of current entries on themes and topics directly relevant to Farmer-Labor history.

• The Progressive Era in Minnesota, 1899-1920. • Populism in Minnesota, 1868-1896 • The Non-Partisan League. • Mesabi Range Strike, 1907 • Socialist Opera House, • Ignatius Donnelly, • Farmer Alliance in Minnesota • Knights of Labor In Minnesota • Eva MacDonald Valesh • Irene Paull • Timber Worker Strike. 1937 • WPA Writers Project • Susie Williamson Stageberg (1868-1950). • Farm Holiday Association in Minnesota • Floyd B. Olson • Willmar 8 Bank Strike

Part 2: On-Line Resources Available on the Farmer-Labor Education Web Site (beginning in March 2015).

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The following is a preliminary list of resources that will be available on the Farmer-Labor Education Committee’s Web site beginning in March, 2015. The list is meant to be suggestive of the kind of materials that will be featured on the site as it is developed and expanded over time.

Speeches and documents from the Farmer-Labor era.

• Farmer Labor Party Platforms • Farmer-Labor Constitution • “Do We Need the Farmer-Labor Association,” a pamphlet published by the Farmer- Labor Association, 1932. • Farmer-Labor Association Organizers Manual, distributed by the Farmer-Labor Education Bureau. • Governor Floyd B. Olson’s Second Inaugural Address • Governor Floyd B. Olson, Speech to the 1934 Farmer-Labor State Convention • Governor Elmer Benson’s Inaugural Address, 1937

Political Cartoons

Political cartoons were an important form of political education in the Farmer-Labor movement. They open a window of understanding for students and the interested public today. Cartoons were staples of the movement’s official newspaper, the Farmer-Labor Leader (renamed the Minnesota Leader in 1935). They offered a populist critique of the trusts and monopolies of the day and promoted Farmer-Labor unity as the alternative.

Labor papers like the Northwest Organizer, the official organ of the Minneapolis Teamsters and Midwest Labor, the CIO paper published in Duluth also employed political cartoons to get their message across. These cartoons from the Organizer are typical of the themes and images from the period.

• 3/ 24/1936, “The Fight is Not Over,” depicts a worked fighting the octopus labeled representing anti-union business owners. • 5/26/ 1938, “ Gulliver Awakes.” Labor tied down by Lilliputian capitalists arises to scatter them. • 7/7/1938, “Why War Begins.” Two fat cat capitalists hold money bags astride the world, market world markets. • 2/22/1939, “How we pay for their depression.” Worker weighed down with sacks marked tax-rise, wage cut, and unemployment with fat capitalist on top of all.

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Cartoons from the FLP, labor and farm press can be viewed and reproduced at the periodical room of the Minnesota History Society. FLEC will be sharing political cartoon images on its web site in 2015.

Articles and Educational Materials on the Farmer-Labor Movement

FLEC will post articles and presentations that provide an overview of the Farmer-Labor Party and explore various aspects of movement history in a variety of formats. Below are some examples.

• The Farmer-Labor Party: A Brief Introduction. Tom O’Connell and Barb Kucera • “Commons and Commonwealth: The Cooperative Commonwealth Tradition.”Tom O’Connell • “The Loyalty Issue in World War 1 and the Origins of the Farmer-Labor Party, 1917- 1918.” A web –based presentation created for the Farmer-Labor Education Committee by Charles Birge. • “The Farmer-Labor Association: Education for Rank and File Democracy.” Tom O’Connell

Where the Past Meets the Present: Farmer-Labor History for the 21st Century.

FLEC will post reflections and analysis like the ones below on the meaning and relevance of Farmer-Labor history for today.

• “We’re Mad as Hell”. Zachary Koepke, Southwest State University. An examination of Groundswell, a farm protest movement in the 1980s with roots in the Farm Holiday movement of an earlier era. • “Conversations Between Past and Present,” an on-line blog by labor historian Peter Rachleff. • “Teaching Labor History in the Middle Ground: Connecting the Campus, the Union Hall and the Community.” Peter Rachleff

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