1. Patrick Cudahy Strike and Plant Closing of 1987-1989 Oral History Project. 1994. 37 audio cassette tapes . Notes: This oral history collection consists of interviews done in 1994 with participants in the bitter two-year-long labor strike during 1987-1989 at the Patrick Cudahy meatpacking plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin, a small town just south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; interviewees included the company’s president and its human relations director, as well as the president of the local union involved (United Food and Commercial Workers Local P-40) and fifteen other striking workers, including several women workers.Location: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Manuscript Collection (control number UWM Manuscript Collection 123), Division of Archives and Special Collections, Golda Meir Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

  1. “Women of Wisconsin Labor Oral History Project, 1988-1995”. 1988. 88 tape recordings . Notes: This oral history collection consists of interviews done from 1988 through 1995 with thirty-seven women active in the labor movement in Wisconsin; the interviewees had been chosen to ensure a balanced representation of different union affiliations, of the various employment sectors that exist (such as public employment, service industries, manufacturing, etc.), and also of the different geographic regions around the state. Location: Archives Division, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison; consult the online catalog, ArCat (the Archives Computer Catalog), to find the exact control numbers for the various portions of this collection.
  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.