Duluth 101: Duluth's Labor History

The subtitle of November's Duluth 101 event is "We Accept the Challenge", taken from a 1935 Labor World headline where local unions passed a resolution supporting the striking Duluth Linen Supply workers in opposition to the local Citizen's Alliance who had organized to break the strike and make Duluth a non-union town.
Erik Peterson presents a glimpse into the sometimes raucous, radical, and ofttimes pathbreaking struggle between organized workers and organized employers over the last 125 years in Duluth. It highlights key locations across Duluth where labor struggles took place—gun fights in the street, a mob of 10,000 workers holding management hostage, burning streetcars, illegal sit-down strikes, paid spies and informers, and the countless unnamed workers who organized and fought for a better life. Erik will place these events in the larger story of labor struggle over the past 125 years. Free event!

About our presenter: For the past 45 years Erik Peterson has done various forms of community, labor, and electoral organizing. He has taught Working Class History and Culture at UMD and currently teaches in the MAPL program at Metro State. He currently has his own business, Bending the Arc Strategies. He lives on a Century Farm outside Esko Minnesota where he can be found digging potatoes and restoring a log cabin when he’s not agitating to bend the arc toward justice.

You may also like the following events from Duluth Folk School:

• This Tuesday, 21st October, 05:00 pm, Dandelion Cordage in Duluth
• This Wednesday, 22nd October, 05:30 pm, Sharper Living: Reviving Your Knives in Duluth
• This Saturday, 25th October, 09:00 am, From Wool to Bear – Knitting a Stuffed Animal in Duluth

Also check out other Business events in Duluth, Workshops in Duluth, Contests in Duluth.