Letters Of Eugene V Debs 1919 1926

The three volumes of Debs's correspondence contain more than 1,500 of the 10,000 extant letters to and from Debs during his controversial lifetime. J. Roberts Constantine spent more than a dozen years compiling, editing, and annotating this collection. Reading Debs's correspondence with the leaders and foot soldiers of the major social movements of his time helps trace the progress of such struggles as woman suffrage, prison reform, abolition of child labor, early attacks on Jim Crow laws, and opposition to war.

A monumental work, expansive in scope, covering the life, times, and culture of that most famous of the Wobblies—songwriter, poet, hobo, thinker, humorist, martyr—Joe Hill. It is a journey into the Wobbly culture that made Hill and the capitalist culture that killed him. Many aspects of the life and lore of Joe Hill receive their first and only discussion in IWW historian Franklin Rosemont’s opus. In great detail, the issues that Joe Hill raised and grappled with in his life: capitalism, white supremacy, gender, religion, wilderness, law, prison, and industrial unionism are shown in both the context of Hill’s life and for their enduring relevance in the century since his death. Collected too is Joe Hill’s art, plus scores of other images featuring Hill-inspired art by IWW illustrators from Ralph Chaplin to Carlos Cortez, as well as contributions from many other labor artists. As Rosemont suggests in this remarkable book, Joe Hill never really died. He lives in the minds of young (and old) rebels as long as his songs are sung, his ideas are circulated, and his political descendants keep fighting for a better day.

Is class outmoded as a basis for understanding labor history? This collection emphatically answers, "No!" These thirteen essays delve into subjects like migrant labor, religion, ethnicity, agricultural history, and gender. Written by former students of preeminent labor figure and historian David Montgomery, the works advance the argument that class remains indispensable to the study of working Americans and their place in the broad drama of our shared national history.

In 1908, a remarkable direction in community learning began in Boston and spread across the country, becoming the Open Forum lecture movement. These locally planned, trans-denominational lectures, followed by periods for questions, were characterized as “the striking of mind upon mind.” This study recovers the movement and shows what can be applied to our time. George W. Coleman brought a deep commitment to free speech in developing the Forum and Mary Caroline Crawford was essential in implementing it. Understanding this initiative broadens our awareness of personal and community courage and democratic planning. We can regain this informed, reflective, respectful approach, and achieve an America “to be”—a democracy in the making.