1. Bailey, John W. “Labor’s Fight for Security and Dignity”. IN: Neuenschwander, John A., editor. Kenosha County in the Twentieth Century: A Topical History. Kenosha, Wis.: Kenosha County Bicentennial Commission; 1976; pp. 223-274. Notes: A review of the major strikes and other events of importance to the labor movement in Kenosha County from 1900 until about 1965, based on some oral histories, but primarily on accounts in the Kenosha Telegraph-Courier and the Kenosha Labor publications. Highlights are mentioned for several strikes, including an April 1906 strike at the Allen Tannery plant in which a striker was hospitalized after being shot in the chest (p. 228) and the bitter 1928-1929 strike by at the Allen-A Hosiery knitting plant (p. 237-246).One of the enduring achievements of the Kenosha labor movement was the creation of their local labor paper in 1935, The Kenosha Labor; the paper is still in publication in Kenosha today, although from October 1992 onwards under the plainer title of The Labor Paper. A special feature in the early days of this local labor paper was a labor comic strip called “the John Smiths,” created by Harold Magin, a Kenosha unionist; besides appearing in the Kenosha Labor, the comic strip was also “syndicated to some forty newspapers” (p. 254). The entire run of the Kenosha labor paper will be found at the library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison.
  2. Cox, Richard W. “Art Young: Cartoonist From the Middle Border”. Wisconsin Magazine of History. 1977 Autumn; 61(1):32-58. Notes: A long look at the successful career of the nationally-known political cartoonist, Art Young, exploring his art through the many ties to his native Wisconsin. Born in 1866, Arthur Henry Young grew up in the small town of Monroe, Wisconsin, where his father owned and ran a general store and the give and take of local political debates inculcated an essential moderation in Art Young’s outlook on life. By age seventeen, he had already started working for a newspaper in Chicago as a pictorial reporter and was soon contributing cartoons and other drawings to newspapers and magazines in New York and Chicago. After 1900 his political beliefs changed over from the Republicanism with which he had grown up to socialism and reform. Young formed friendships with many of the social reformers of the period, such as Eugene V. Debs, Helen Keller and Robert M. La Follette. In 1904 Young returned to Wisconsin during the last month of La Follette’s Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign and, in exchange for only his travel expenses, contributed pro-La Follette cartoons for use by the campaign. Except for a rough period around World War I when his opposition to the participation of the United States in the war forced him to publish his own weekly publication as a way to get his work out, Young placed cartoons regularly throughout the rest of his long career in both important left-leaning magazines (The Masses, The Metropolitan, The New Masses, and The Nation), and the large mainstream outlets of the day (Life, Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s Weekly). His magazine, Good Morning, carried the masthead motto of “to laugh that we may not weep” and appeared for only two years (1919-1920). Young continued turning out important cartoons until about 1934, when his health weakened; he died in New York city in 1943. He wrote two autobiographical works, On My Way: Being the Book of Art Young in Text and Picture (New York: Horace Liveright, 1928) and Art Young: His Life and Times (New York: Sheridan House, 1939).
  3. Fitzgerald, Richard. Art and Politics: Cartoonists of the “Masses” and “Liberator”. Westport, Conn.:

Greenwood Press; 1973. 254 p. (Contributions in American Studies, no. 8. Notes: A revision of the author’s thesis (Ph.D.)–University of California, Riverside. Art Young, who grew up in Monroe, Wisconsin, is one of the five cartoonists discussed.

  1. Fitzgerald, Richard Ambrose. “Radical Illustrators of the Masses and Liberator: A Study of the Conflict

Between Art and Politics”; 1969. Notes: Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Riverside, 1969. 446 p. Art Young, who grew up in Monroe, Wisconsin, is one of the five cartoonists discussed in this study. For a fuller abstract, see Dissertation Abstracts International, 1970 31(4):1725-A.

  1. Konopacki, Mike. Beware Konopacki. Madison, Wis.: Madison Press Connection Support Group; 1979. 96
  2. Notes: Editorial cartoons collected from the Madison Press Connection, the alternative paper published by the striking employees of the two daily newspapers in Madison, Wisconsin.
  3. Konopacki, Mike and Huck, Gary. Bye! American: The Labor Cartoons of Gary Huck & Mike Konopacki. Chicago, Ill.: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company; 1987. 111 p. Notes: The first collected volume of the work of two great Wisconsin editorial cartoonists, Gary Huck from Racine and Mike Konopacki from Madison; in his introduction to the volume, Roger Bybee, editor of the Racine Labor newspaper, isn’t exaggerating when he says that Huck and Konopacki provide “some of the most creatively effective efforts yet to scorch the Teflon off of Ronald Reagan and the system of greed he symbolizes so well…[using] their unique wit, artistic skill and political understanding to burn through the layers of illusion and rhetoric that shield Reagan and Reaganism.”–p. 5.The title, Bye! American is a tribute to the classic collection of labor cartoons by Fred Wright, So Long, Partner! (New York: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), 1975).
  4. “Labor Cartoons: Drawing on Worker Culture”. IN: Pizzigati, Sam and Solowey, Fred J., editors. The New Labor Press: Journalism for a Changing Union Movement. Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press (School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University); 1992; pp. 126-140. Notes: Two of today’s premier labor cartoonists, Wisconsin natives Mike Konopacki and Gary Huck, provide a nice overview of labor cartooning, long an important organizing tool of the labor movement. Huck and Konopacki explain how technological developments in printing equipment early in the twentieth century made the addition of political cartoons economically viable for the U.S. labor press; several illustrative examples of the art is provided from their own Huck Konopacki cartoons and from the work of a few other great labor cartoonists as well, including Fred Wright, Carol Simpson, Rick Flores, and Bulbul.
  5. Mad in U.S.A.: Labor Cartoons by Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki, Volume Three. Chicago, Ill.: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company; 1993. 112 p. Notes: Here is the third volume of the cartoons of two great Wisconsin editorial cartoonists, Gary Huck from Racine and Mike Konopacki from Madison. In her “Forward” to this collection, Kathy Willkes, Communications Director for the International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union is very accurate in saying: “They could be ‘commercial’; they could play it safe; they could compromise. They aren’t’; they don’t; they won’t. Instead of pandering to the establishment press and its advertisers, Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki have carved out their own unique niche with razor-sharp insight (some would say ‘incite’) and a finely honed commitment to union principles, human rights and political activism.”–p. 5.
  1. Them: More Labor Cartoons by Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki. Chicago, Ill.: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company; 1991. 111 p. Notes: The second collection of the cartoons of two great Wisconsin editorial cartoonists, Gary Huck from Racine and Mike Konopacki from Madison–this collection is just as great as the first volume! Michael Funke, assistant editor for the publication, U.A.W. Solidarity, isn’t stretching the truth in declaring, “These guys are LABOR’s Best Cartoonists. No contest. … Their cartoons speak directly to working people: pointedly addressing their needs and desires while exposing–with wit, whimsy and irony–the empty rheteoric, shameful greed, and conniving lies of the politicians and bosses who serve the interests of the rich.”–p. 5.
  2. Two-Headed Space Alien Shrinks Labor Movement and Threatens to Redouble Its Efforts for Another Twenty Years!: Labor Cartoons by Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki, Volume 5. Madison, Wis.: Capitalism Sucks Press, a division of Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons; 2003. 112 p. Notes: Here’s the fifth collection of the cartoons of two great Wisconsin editorial cartoonists, Gary Huck from Racine and Mike Konopacki from Madison. In his foreword, Pete Mueller (cartoonist for The New Yorker, The Progressive, etc.) has this advice for readers of this volume: “So, as you read through this little book of cartoons, keep in mind that every one of them has appeared in print and that thousands upon thousands of folks have run across them in the alternative press and labor periodicals everywhere over the past two decades. Keep in mind that these two guys decided long ago to put their considerable talents to use toward the quixotic pursuit of YOUR happiness. And keep in mind that the prescient team of Huck and Konopacki will continue their little crusade to be right about what’s wrong for the next twenty years, too–unless of course, justice somehow prevails and power is thrust upon the powerless, and these two losers find something useful to do.”–p. 7.
  3. Konopacki, Mike and Huck, Gary. Working Class Hero: Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons IV. Pittsburg, Pa.: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE); 1998. 112 p. Notes: Here’s the fourth collection of the cartoons of two great Wisconsin editorial cartoonists, Gary Huck from Racine and Mike Konopacki from Madison–this collection is published by the well-known UE union, because “UE and other unions fought [their] way through the Reagan, Bush and Clinton years with the cartoons of Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki helping to make those struggles a bit more possible and certainly more understandable.”–p. 7.
  4. Lewis, Ross Aubrey. The Cartoons of R.A. Lewis, Milwaukee Journal: A 38 Year Slice of History (1929-1967) as Seen by a Gifted Satirist and Draftsman in Some of the Political and Humorous Cartoons Which Made Him Internationally Famous. Lockwood, George, edited and annotated by. [Milwaukee, Wis.?]: The Journal Company; 1968. 122 p. Notes: Although R.A. Lewis was born and grew up near Detroit, Michigan, in 1920 he began studying at the Wisconsin School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as he had an uncle living in Milwaukee, and, after graduation, stayed on, working in Milwaukee as a commercial designer; then, in 1925 he began as a staff artist at The Milwaukee Journal, one of the two major daily newspapers in the city. At the end of 1929, Lewis began providing the newspaper with editorial cartoons regularly and won a Pulitzer Prize for his September 1, 1934 editorial cartoon, “Sure, I’ll Work for Both Sides” (about violence in disputes between industry and labor). Of special note in this collection is the December 15, 1942 editorial cartoon about the loss at sea during World War II of Mayor Carl Zeidler, after whom Zeidler Union Square Park in downtown Milwaukee, is named.
  1. Magin, Harold. “The John Smiths”. The Kenosha Labor: A Weekly Paper Dedicated to the Interests of Workers in City and on Farm. Kenosha, Wis.; 1924 May 1. Notes: There was a small announcement on the front page of the Friday, April 10, 1936 issue of The Kenosha Labor newspaper:”Meet/The John Smiths/In This Issue of /The Kenosha Labor/And Every Week Thereafter The Kenosha Labor is setting the pace for labor newspapers throughout the country. Latest innovation is this labor comic strip done by our own staff artist and radio editor, Harold Magin. Other labor papers liked the advance proofs, so we have syndicated it through the Federated Press.”The comic went on to appear in the following issues of The Kenosha Labor: April 10, 1936, p. 3; April 17, 1936, p. 4; April 24, 1936, p. 6; May 1, 1936, p. 6; September 10, 1937, p. 7; September 24, 1937, p. 9; October 1, 1937, p. 9; October 8, 1937, p. 8; October 15, 1937, p. 12; October 22, 1937, p. 10; October 29, 1937, p. 10; November 5, 1937, p. 10; November 12, 1937, p. 8; November 19, 1937, p. 8; November 26, 1937, p. 9; December 3, 1937, p. 9; December 17, 1937, p. 12; December 30, 1937, p. 5; January 7, 1938, p. 5; January 4, 1938, p. 7; January 21, 1938, p. 3; January 28, 1938, p. 3; February 4, 1938, p. 7; March 11, 1938, p. 5; March 18, 1938, p. 5; April 8, 1938, p. 5; April 15, 1938, p. 5; April 29, 1938, p. 3; May 6, 1938, p. 5; May 13, 1938, p. 5; May 20, 1938, p. 5; May 27, 1938, p. 7; June 3, 1938, p. 5; June 17, 1938, p. 5; June 24, 1938, p. 3; July 1, 1938, p. 5; July 8, 1938, p. 2; July 29, 1938, p. 3; November 4, 1938, p. 7; December 2, 1938, p. 7; December 9, 1938, p. 9; December 16, 1938, p. 7; December 23, 1938, p. 5; December 30, 1938, p. 3; and other dates to be identified upon further research.John W. Bailey says in his chapter about the Kenosha labor movement in Kenosha County in the 20th Century that “The John Smiths” comic strip was also “syndicated to some forty newspapers” (p. 254). The entire run of the Kenosha labor paper will be found on microfilm at the library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison.
  2. Penn, Larry and Holter, Darryl. Stickin’ With the Union: Songs From Wisconsin Labor History . Silver Spring, Md.: Produced for Collector Records by Cookie Man Music Co.; 1989 1 sound cassette (37 min.) : analog, 1-7/8 ips ; 3-7/8 x 2 1/2 in. + 1 booklet ([32] p.) (. Collector Records; 1948-C). Notes: A fine collection of labor songs performed by Larry Penn, one of Wisconsin’s labor troubadours, and Darryl Holter, former president of the Wisconsin Labor History Society. The substantial and well-illustrated accompanying booklet explains the historical connection of each song, many of which are about a specific Wisconsin event or a labor issue which affected workers and labor unions in Wisconsin. Copies are still available from: Cookie Man Music Co., 3955 South First Place, Milwaukee, WI 53207; telephone: 414/483-7306; URL: http:www.execpc.com ~cookeman/.CONTENTS: Side A. “Fifty Years Ago” (Joe Glazer)–“Babies in the Mill” (Dorsey Dixon)–“Ghosts of Bay View” (Larry Penn)–“Saturday Night” (Darryl Holter)–“Frozen in Time” (Larry Penn)–“So Long Partner” (Larry Penn)–“Willie the Scab” (Larry Penn)–“Which Side Are You On?” (Florence Reece; additional lyrics by Darryl Holter). Side B. “Cowboy Days” (Larry Penn & Traditional)–“The Wreck of the Carl D. Bradley” (Larry Penn)–“Love and the Shorter Work Week” (Darryl Holter)–“Putting the Blame” (Tom Juravich)–“So Long It’s Been Good to Know Ya” (Woody Guthrie; additional lyrics by Darryl Holter)–“Union Maid” (Woody Guthrie).”Fifty Years Ago” is about the founding of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in Madison, Wisconsin.“Babies in the Mill” was written in 1950 and is about child labor in textile mills and was included here because of the significant growth of child labor in the modern economy.“The Ghosts of Bay View” is about the 1886 Bay View Massacre when the Wisconsin National Guard fired into a group of workers marching in a parade in support of the Eight-Hour Day in Bay View, a neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; at least seven were killed (six men and one boy)–still to this day Wisconsin’s bloodiest labor dispute.“Saturday Night” is about a 1902 strike of workers at papermills up and down the Fox River Valley in Wisconsin to win Saturday nights off.“Frozen in Time” is about the 1913 Italian Hall Tragedy in Calumet, Michigan when 72 people–mostly children–died in a stampede when someone created a panic by yelling “fire” in a second-floor room where a Christmas party for the children of striking copper miners was being held. The Calumet strike was lost, but, when those who were involved moved on, the memory of the tragedy of Italian Hall inspired them to carry on the union struggle in their new communities.“So Long Partner” was written in honor of Fred Wright, the great labor cartoonist who worked for the United Electrical Workers International Union (UE); Wright’s 1975 book of the same title is a classic collection of labor cartoons. This wonderful song effectively captures the bosses’ ploy to wring all possible concessions from their employees and then dump the employees when it suits the bosses’ greed.“Willie the Scab” is about the scabs during 1987-89 strike by members of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local P-40 at the Patrick Cudahy meatpacking plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin.“Which Side Are You On?” was originally written for a strike of mine workers and became a classic song of the U.S. labor movement; additional lyrics here adapt it to the long and bitter union struggles at the Kohler Company in Kohler, Wisconsin in the 1930s and 1950s.“Cowboy Days” is about the life of a truck driver working as an over-the-road mover. “The Wreck of the Carl D. Bradley” is about the November 1952 shipwreck on Lake Michigan of one of the largest boats operating at that time on the Great Lakes.“Love and the Shorter Work Week” is a wonderfully fun song effectively capturing how the workers of “new economy” of the late 1980s struggled with work schedules and jobs designed without taking human elements into consideration.“Putting the Blame” explains how manufacturing workers were unfairly blamed during the Reagan recession of the 1980s for the ugly shutdowns of their factories; the song ends by identifying the real culprit of the plant closures.“So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Ya (Rustbowl Version)” was adapted from Woody Guthrie’s classic song about people during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s; the re-written verses by Darryl Holter eloquently tell the story of the abandoned manufacturing communities of the “rustbowl” states like Wisconsin.“Union Maid” is another rousing classic labor song by Woody Guthrie.
  3. Stickin’ With the Union: Songs From Wisconsin Labor History . Milwaukee, Wis.: Produced for the Wisconsin Labor History Society by Cookie Man Music Co.; 2005 1 sound disc (39 min., 51 sec.) : digital ; 4-3/4 in. + 1 booklet ([32] p.)(; “C-M~LHS ; Originally released on cassette as Collector Records #1948-C”–back of CD-ROM sleeve). ISBN: 0-9663267-1-7 ; 9780966326710. Notes: A fine collection of labor songs performed by Larry Penn, one of Wisconsin’s labor troubadours, and Darryl Holter, former president of the Wisconsin Labor History Society. The substantial and well-illustrated accompanying booklet explains the historical connection of each song, many of which are about a specific Wisconsin event or a labor issue which affected workers and labor unions in Wisconsin. Copies sold of this CD version of Stickin’ with the Union benefit the Special Legacy Fund of the Wisconsin Labor History Society and may be ordered via the society’s website at www.wisconsinlaborhistory.org or by e-mailing info@wisconsinlaborhistory.org.CONTENTS: “Fifty Years Ago” (Joe Glazer)–“Babies in the Mill” (Dorsey Dixon)–“Ghosts of Bay View” (Larry Penn)–“Saturday Night” (Darryl Holter)–“Frozen in Time” (Larry Penn)–“So Long Partner” (Larry Penn)–“Willie the Scab” (Larry Penn)–“Which Side Are You On?” (Florence Reece; additional lyrics by Darryl Holter)–“Cowboy Days” (Larry Penn & Traditional)–“The Wreck of the Carl D. Bradley” (Larry Penn)–“Love and the Shorter Work Week” (Darryl Holter)–“Putting the Blame” (Tom Juravich)–“So Long It’s Been Good to Know Ya” (Woody Guthrie; additional lyrics by Darryl Holter)–“Union Maid” (Woody Guthrie).”Fifty Years Ago” is about the founding of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in Madison, Wisconsin.“Babies in the Mill” was written in 1950 and is about child labor in textile mills and was included here because of the significant growth of child labor in the modern economy.“The Ghosts of Bay View” is about the 1886 Bay View Massacre when the Wisconsin National Guard fired into a group of workers marching in a parade in support of the Eight-Hour Day in Bay View, a neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; at least seven were killed (six men and one boy)–still to this day Wisconsin’s bloodiest labor dispute.“Saturday Night” is about a 1902 strike of workers at papermills up and down the Fox River Valley in Wisconsin to win Saturday nights off.“Frozen in Time” is about the 1913 Italian Hall Tragedy in Calumet, Michigan when 72 people–mostly children–died in a stampede when someone created a panic by yelling “fire” in a second-floor room where a Christmas party for the children of striking copper miners was being held. The Calumet strike was lost, but, when those who were involved moved on, the memory of the tragedy of Italian Hall inspired them to carry on the union struggle in their new communities.“So Long Partner” was written in honor of Fred Wright, the great labor cartoonist who worked for the United Electrical Workers International Union (UE); Wright’s 1975 book of the same title is a classic collection of labor cartoons. This wonderful song effectively captures the bosses’ ploy to wring all possible concessions from their employees and then dump the employees when it suits the bosses’ greed.“Willie the Scab” is about the scabs during 1987-89 strike by members of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local P-40 at the Patrick Cudahy meatpacking plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin.“Which Side Are You On?” was originally written for a strike of mine workers and became a classic song of the U.S. labor movement; additional lyrics here adapt it to the long and bitter union struggles at the Kohler Company in Kohler, Wisconsin in the 1930s and 1950s.“Cowboy Days” is about the life of a truck driver working as an over-the-road mover. “The Wreck of the Carl D. Bradley” is about the November 1952 shipwreck on Lake Michigan of one of the largest boats operating at that time on the Great Lakes.“Love and the Shorter Work Week” is a wonderfully fun song effectively capturing how the workers of “new economy” of the late 1980s struggled with work schedules and jobs designed without taking human elements into consideration.“Putting the Blame” explains how manufacturing workers were unfairly blamed during the Reagan recession of the 1980s for the ugly shutdowns of their factories; the song ends by identifying the real culprit of the plant closures.“So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Ya (Rustbowl Version)” was adapted from Woody Guthrie’s classic song about people during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s; the re-written verses by Darryl Holter eloquently tell the story of the abandoned manufacturing communities of the “rustbowl” states like Wisconsin.“Union Maid” is another rousing classic labor song by Woody Guthrie.
  4. Sanders, Bill. The Sanders Book: Selected Political Cartoons. [Milwaukee, Wisc.?]: The Milwaukee Journal; 1978. 216 p. Notes: Editorial cartoons originally published in the daily newspaper, The Milwaukee Journal, from 1967 to 1979 by the newspaper’s staff cartoonist, including an April 29, 1974 cartoon about the 1974 Hortonville teachers’ strike (see p. 154).
  1. Vukelich, George. “Drawing the Face of Labor: The World of Workers Through a Cartoonist’s Eyes”. Isthmus [Madison, Wis.]. 1994 Jun 10; 13. Notes: A portrait of Madison cartoonist, Mike Konopacki, half of the Huck/Konopacki labor cartooning team.
  2. Young, Art. Art Young: His Life and Times. Beffel, John Nicholas, editor. New York: Sheridan House; 467 p.Notes: The second of two autobiographical works by the nationally-known cartoonist, who grew up in Monroe, Wisconsin.
  3. On My Way: Being the Book of Art Young in Text and Picture. New York: Horace Liveright; 1928. 303 p. Notes: This is the first of two autobiographical works by the nationally-known political cartoonist, Art Young, who was described by Mike Konopacki in the Encyclopedia of the American Left (1998) as “the leading socialist cartoonist of the early twentieth century” (p. 919). Young, who grew up in Monroe, Wisconsin, filled this book with wonderful examples of his art, interspersed among his musings on life, or, as the artist says (p. vii), “a rambling record (not neglecting the criminal record) of one who has journeyed through the years observing political, artistic and other human affairs, while concerned with advanced theories for life’s fulfillment as well as the immediate problems that confront all of us–on our way.”