Welcome to Our Site: Join with us as we salute Wisconsin's workers and their unions for helping to make Wisconsin a great state! Look at our history, share your own history, preserve that history and tell it to coming generations. The Society is totally volunteer, is a nonprofit organization and is affiliated with the Wisconsin
Historical Society.
What's here . . .
- Rep. Gwen Moore to Speak at Bay View Tragedy event May 4
- State Senate passed Labor History in School Bill; It Dies in Assembly
- 2008 Conference Looks at Immigration and It Historical Answers
- 26th Annual Conference Spotlights Labor's Role in Foreign Affairs
- Darina Rasmussen's Story Told By Granddaughter
- Bay View Tragedy Event: May 6, 2007
- WLHS Activities outlined
Our 2006-2007 newsletters available in PDF format. Click here to go to the News and Events page.
CLICK HERE for a handy list books, CDs, videos and other materials at BARGAIN Prices, all telling about Wisconsin's colorful labor history.
State Senate Passes Labor History in the Schools Proposal
Senate Bill 108 Requires Public Schools to Teach Labor History
The Wisconsin State Senate on Feb. 19 passed SB 108, the Labor History in the Schools Bill. The measure was never brought to a vote by the Republican-controlled Assembly. The bill may be brought up again the next session of the Legislature, after the November elections. A fact sheet is available in PDF format. Click here.
The legislation is simple. It
allows each school district to decide how it will incorporate labor history
into the curriculum so there will be great flexibility for teachers—and also
little, if any, cost to each district. We have worked with the Wisconsin State
AFL-CIO to support this legislation in the past. Due to Republican opposition,
we have been unable to see it enacted into law, but our policymakers need to be
reminded of the contributions of workers and their unions to the history of
this state and nation and we need to keep fighting for a more balanced
presentation of history.
The Vote in the Senate was 19-14, with all Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Mike Ellis, voting 'yes.' Co-sponsors of SB 108 are: Senators Dave Hansen,
Bob Wirch, John
Lehman, Jeff Plale, Fred Risser and Jim Sullivan; Reps. Josh Zepnick, Mike
Sheridan, Chris
Sinicki, Gary Hehi, Spencer Black, Andy Jorgensen, Mark Pocan. Bob Turner,
Terese Berceau.
Tamara Grigsby and Amy Sue Vruvink. All are Democrats.
To e-mail your Representative: rep.(insert last name)@legis.wisconsin.gov
To leave a phone message: toll-free Legislative Hotline: 1-800-362-9472
Madison Area Hotline: 266-9960
To mail a letter: P.O. Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707-7882
If you need to confirm your Representative, the Hotline will provide that information
based on your address—or you can check at: http://waml.legis.state.i.us. Thanks
for your help!
See a complete report on the progress of this bill on the "News and Events" page.
Rep. Moore to Speak at Bay View Tragedy Event May 4
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) will address the 122nd Anniversary Commemoration
of the 1886 Bay View Tragedy at 3 p.m., Sunday, May 4, 2008 at the Bay View
Historical Marker Site at S. Superior St. and E. Russell Ave., about one-half
mile from the south end of the Hoan Bridge on Milwaukee’s lakefront.
Rep. Moore is serving her second term as Milwaukee’s
representative in Congress, and is expected to link the struggles of the
eight-hour-day campaign in 1886 to the issues facing today’s workers. She served in the State Legislature from 1988
to 2004 as a Representative and later a State Senator.
Folksinger Larry Penn will offer songs commemorating the Tragedy
and other labor struggles. John Utzat,
author and an historian on Bay View, will be master of ceremonies. Following the event, there will be an open reception at Club
Garibaldi, 2501 S. Superior St. The
event is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Labor History Society and is planned
with members of the Bay View Historical Society.
The commemoration has been held annually since 1986 (the 100th
Anniversary of the Tragedy) and has become a tradition. More than 200 are expected to attend the
event which is held to remember the incident on May 5, 1886 when the state
militia fired upon several thousand workers marching for the 8-hour day,
killing seven. The tragedy was the
deadliest in Wisconsin labor history.
Some 1,500 workers, carrying signs in support of the 8-hour day,
approached the Rolling Mills, then Milwaukee’s largest employer. Not hearing orders to halt, they were fired
upon by the militia, and the deaths resulted. (For full summary of event and article about last year's event, click HERE)
27th Annual WLHS Conference Looks at Immigration
Are there lessons to be learned from history as the U.S. grapples with the immigration problem?
The 27th Annual Conference of the Wisconsin Labor History Society looked at how vital immigrants were to the creation of our Wisconsin society and economy. More than 75 attended.
John Gurda, prominent Milwaukee historian, opened the conference on Saturday April 26, 2008, with a discussion on 19th Century immigration. He concentrated mainly on the strong German migration into Wisconsin, and the development of many Milwaukee industries from among skilled workers who eventually founded major companies. He noted that the German workers who lived on the north side of the city and the Polish workers on the south side were instrumental in forming the unions that created the foundation of the socialist traditions in the area.
Prof. Richard Hudelson, of the University of Wisconsin - Superior, told of the influence of Finish immigrants in northwest Wisconsin, where they have left a populist and onetime communist imprint on the area. At one time, he said, there were Finish language daily newspapers in the area with circulations of 17,000, one leaning socialist and the other more communist.
The skills of Italian stonecutters are evident many Wisconsin buildings, including the State Capitol, as was shown in a video produced by Randy Croce, of the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service. He told of the day-to-day challenges the workers faced and their social life.
The impact of the country's newest immigrants, mainly Mexican and Puerto Rican workers, and those from Southeast Asia, namely the Hmong,were the topic of the afternoon session. Prof. Marc Rodriguez of Notre Dame University, told of the growing numbers of Hispanics, and their challenges. Prof. Chia Vang, of the UWM History Dept., said that Wisconsin ranks among the states with the higher precentage of Hmong residents. She said the Hmong, formerly a rural people, are slowly becoming better acclimated to U.S. society, with more and more able to get good education and jobs, though the percentages are still low.
The plight of the Hispanic workers was outlined by Maria Morales, of Voces de la Frontera of Racine, who announced the mass march for May 1.
Mary Jo Avery, former president of CWA Local 4600 in Milwaukee and a leader of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, was given the organization's annual Lifetime Achievement Award.
Joel Feingold, of Janesville, was awarded a $500 Frank P. Zeidler scholarship award for his undergraduate essay on "Red (White and Blue): Communism, Finnishness and America in the Upper Midwest, 1907-1940."
The Society also honored the Douglas County Historical Society for its activities in raising the awareness of labor history in Superior and Douglas County.
WLHS is dedicated to:
WLHS is supported by:
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Become a Member of WLHSMembership ApplicationNow available on CD:'Stickin' with the Union: Songs from Wisconsin Labor History,' including the CD of 14 labor songs and a well-illustrated 32-page booklet. For order blank and more information, click here.Visit Our Historical SiteThe Wisconsin Workers Memorial in downtown Milwaukee, Zeidler Union Square Park, N. 4th and W. Michigan Sts. |
Remember labor history by honoring loved ones
Formed in 1981, the Wisconsin Labor History Society exists to continue the heritage developed by the state's workers and union activists. What better way to remember the contributions of loved ones than to consider making a memorial donation to the Wisconsin Labor History . You may make donations in many different ways, such as by suggesting making the Society the receipt of gifts at the time of the person's death or by establishing a memorial in the person's name. Contact Ken Germanson, WLHS President.
Activities
Officers and Board -- 2007-2008 Term
Ken Germanson, President, Retired, Allied Industrial Workers Staff
Laurie Wermter, Vice President, AFSCME Local 2412, Madison
Bob Agen, Secretary, PACE Local 7-16, Appleton
Joanne Ricca, Treasurer, Staff Rep., Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
Joanne Bruch, Retired, IUE-CWA, Whitewater
Paul Cigler Jr., Teacher, Appleton
Carmen Clark, Educator / Marketing Consultant, Madison
John DeRosier, Eau Claire Area Labor Council, Eau Claire
John B. Jentz, Reference Librarian, Marquette Univ., Milwaukee
William P. Jones, Associate Prof. of History, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Harvey Kaye, Prof. of History, UW-Green Bay, Green Bay
Jim Lorence, Prof. of History (Retired), UW-Marathon County
Stephen Meyer, Department of History, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
David Nack, Faculty, UW School for Workers, Madison
David Newby, Pres. Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Madison
Joseph Oswald, Staff, Wisconsin Laborers' District Council, Madison
Candice Owley, Pres. Wis. Fed, of Nurses and Health Prof., Milwaukee
James Reiland, Fox Valley Area Central Labor Council, Menasha
