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B.C. Teachers' Federation, Labour I lIpg I I a I I rrl ~ I ISSN: 0706-8441 Labour History Vol. 1; No. 4/Fall, 1978 Couer photos courtesy of the Vancouver Pub/.ic Librium. Labour History is a publication of: T4E 4bOUR 4ISTOR)'SSOCIATIOhi BRITISH COLUMBIA TEACHERS'EDERATIOIB 105-1235 BURRARD STREET VANCOUVER, S.C. VSJ 3HS President's Message / Frank Fuller ................................ 1 MailBox ................................;........................... 2 The Hungry '30s / Colleen Bostwick ..... ~ .......................... 3 Camp 200 / Morris Carrell .................,....................... 9 Summer '35: of On-To-Ottawa Trek ................................. 10 The Regina Riot / Barbara Stewart ................. 15 Oral History: 17,'eviewed: Fighting Back, Syd Thompson Interviwed .......'' ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1. Left Hand, Right Hand / Gary Onstad ......,........... 28,/ 2. Recollections... / John Church ....................... 29 Bloody Sunday, June, 19, 1938 / ................................... 30 Lesson Plan: "Bloody Sunday" — A student skit based on the 1938 Post, Office Sitdown / Peter Seixas ..............''34 Bibliography / Denis Ottewell Helena Gutteridge — 1880-1960 ~ ~ 0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ' 37 Research/Editing/Layout: Colleen .Bostwick 'Secial Thanks: Betty Griffin, consultation and material contributions. including photographs. All photos with no credits are from Ms. Griffin's private collection. JoHanna den Hertog for'her notes on Helena Gutteridge. .I "Syd Thompson for making his time, available for interviews. layout by volunteer labour-. printed in a union shop PRESIiDENT 8 NIESSAGE FRANK FULLER With this issue of Labour Histor@ we begin our have * 3rd year as a P.S.A. We made our mark on the B ritish appear to tinctive Columbian and Canadian scenes as a unique and dis- kind of associationIin the field of education. It is from thiss van vantage/point we are going back in these pages Great Depressionon, 1929 — to the decade of the 1939. I lived through this period as a Carrell and S yd young mana , as did Morris Thompson, who describe their experiences in this issue. Because'his decade. is a art of me I would like to w ich may be relevant. r'e make some personal observations De 'epressions are not just the unique experiences through the 1930s.s. Inn everyIever of those who lived borne generation for the past 200 years there are tho the brunt ofo massive u'nemployment: personal h h people now disorganization and misery. The leaving our classrooms are no exception. young For decades workin I g p eople have passed on their Depression experiences family structure to their children. This through the past summer I had a nostalr os a g ic reun on n ive y year old luncle, who i with my and related to me the hard times',experienced his my mother's generation. / by Uncle Jim told me of working in the coal mines in southern chain inn thee sawmills of East Colorado and on the green Texas and Arkansas prior to 1915 . ed" ~ I b "h pe freire ghts and toured the West II ~ t j b h in "side-door Pullmans," searching for work. periences were almost identical to mine His ex- twenty years later. Wie both worked for a meagre wage — and for short ll long hours looking periods. When we were layed off we rode the "rods", for work. We often'bummed meals from door to learned to survive. door, or went hungry. We both He saw the United Mine Workers burst forth among the miners in 1914, and . 0 %II"-r'j helped my mother bury her first husband who was killed in the great miners'trike of that ji- same year. I saw the beginning of the union among agriculture workers. in 1934. Both of us saw the end of our hard times for a while — he in 1917, and I in 1940 IIV when we went into the army. This kind of experience is common to '&I.e thousands of families in B.C. and has re- mained a kind of'olk history, largely ig- nored, until recently, by scholars and historians. For this reason it has sel- dom entered 1 the classroom. \ J .,J The invention of the tape recorder and the development of oral history techniques have allowed both teachers and students to explore an untold histo:y.. Interviews with old timers, photographs', newspapers, diaries and letters're uncovering the lives and struggles of working people. We hope this issue will make a contri- ~ 'l bution to this new approach for / both stu- / :/ dents and teachers. Frank Fuller,'grieul~al Field ~or'ker, Ca'Li forvtia,','2984. / I / 1 .'/ / / j / / / /'j jj // A7.I correspondence to the editor should be ad- dressed to: Labour History, o/o The B.C. Tea- chers'ederation. Letters must be signed; hoveuer, names are withheld upon request. I/ am very impressed w'th the first three labour history, and most certainly could productions of the Labour History PSA and make use of these materials... wonder if it is possible to subscribe for 31 copies of each future issue as well as Sincerely', a set of 31 each of the three back issues. Ron Denman, Co-or/ii&»ator I would very much like to distrioute Museum Curriculum Development Program, these'eriodicals to every member of our Museum of Northern'B.C., Pr. Rupert servicing staff:. I have forwarded my ap- plication for membership in the PSA to the BCTF and would like to take this opport- would to commend the Labour His- unity to extend my sincere:congratulations I like to your group on behalf of, the BCGEU... tory PSA for the excellent newsletter it The most con- I 'am relieved to find that the Labour His- is publishing. recent issue tory PSA shares almost unanimously, all tained some very useful articles, book re- the concerns of those of us working in views, lesson plans and historical infor- labour education in the trade&union move- mation on trade unions in B.C. ment. You may be interested in knowing that R.G. Moore, Education Officer much interest is being expressed in this B.C. Government Employees'nion newsletter by growing numbers of teachers Burnaby, /B.C. in B.C. I have received several calls about the newsletter and I am asked for * «: * information about it at workshops through- / out B.C. For. some time teachers have been 'y apologies for not communicating searching for teaching materials on the with you sooner. However, betwe& n our labour movement in/B.C. They':now feel Convention/ and the herring fishery, com- they have access to such material. / bined'ith Combines attacks ad nauseum', Yours truly, our Executive never got around to expres- sing'ur appreciation for the work you Wes Knapp, Professional Development have been doing on Labour History project, B.C. Teachers'ederation in,particular the edition on the Fishing / ... Industry. &I'/ ,'e. have found this particular edition useful in our Union's own education work, Thank Labour History. It is / you for as the material is presented in a most immensely/popular here in the, East. So accurate, if not thought-provoking, way. popular, in fact, it lasted,c'n my desk all borrowed Congratulations and keep up the fine of 15 minutes before someone it. work. But not before I made sure I had my name engraved on the front cover. We are 'show- Fraternally, ing it to numbers of people who are in- volved in labour history and teaching in George Hewison, Secretary-Treasurer'nited may something Fisherman & Allied Workers'Union the hopes that they start similar. I"am constantly fascinated by the little bits and pieces you come up with and the stories from those actually ' i involved in the events. I had an opportunity to briefly glance at';,the third edition of your'abour History Clare Booker, Assistant Dir. of Education booklet yesterday. Our Museum is currently 'Canadian L'abour Congress, Ottawa developing local history curriculum mater-'als on a variety of subjects, including H E COLLEEN BOSTWICK Being unemployed is as common an experience among working .people as working itself. g f — 50 years, the average — person will face unemployment'at once probably more. This often least has nothing to'o with a personal decision. Larger forces pull people in, and push people out. ',/ In an unplanned economy mass unemployment (as during the Great curring phenomenon. In the Depression) is a re-: Canadian experience these predictable crises have been mis- ;ta enly treated as unusual, and their 'solutions'eft with economic to the private decisions of those power. The burden of "labour-saying devices," of swings in the business cycle" over-production, of "down- has been borne by those who have the least. participation, in directing the economy. On the charts and graphs, high and the lines reach further extremities of, low. There are r asons for it,'nu there are consequences. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit North America wi'th Canada each region, surprising severity. In community and individual had their own particular experiences. Bu't common thread is the poverty,: the the continual unemployment, the hardships — and these gr'ind slowly. It was a ~ion decade. In this issue of Labour History we have chosen to look at the B.C. Notot all aspects of Depression ye r the Depression have been covered, but it is to be hoped that teachers and students will undertake to further are many,'any study this period of our history, for there things to learn. / * * * / / In the 1920s 's I / B.C. economy was booming. There was intensive capital investment Britain and America. Vancouver from was becoming a distributing base for Western Canada and provided access to world markets. The resource 'industries 'were manufacturing, sector expanding rapidly and the. was diversifying. Wages were the highest per capita in the country. Immigration was encouraged. Vancouver became the Dominion's third largest city.
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