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American Labor Movements
Labor Links @ Labor Fiction @ Audio/Video/Other Media @ Labor Film Festival
@ General Labor Non-Fiction @ Historical Non-Fiction @
"If a man love the labour of his trade, apart from any suggestion "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance "If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich "Men do not shrink from work, but from slavery. The man who works "You don't own it until it costs you something." "Adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage has decreased 38% since 1968."
of success or fame, the gods have called him."
— Robert Louis Stevenson [1850-94]
to work hard at work worth doing."
— Theodore Roosevelt [Labor Day speech, 1903]
would have kept it all to themselves."
— Lane Joseph Kirkland [president AFL-CIO, 1980-95]
primarily for the benefit of another does so only from compulsion,
and work so done is the very essence of slavery."
— Eugene V. Debs [1855-1926]
— George Meany [president AFL-CIO 1955-79]
— Howard Dean, 2003
"Labor is the source of all wealth."
— G.E. Nordell
purchase variations of this poster at AllPosters.com
Labor Links
sociologist C. Wright Mills [1916-62]
labor leader Eugene V. Debs [1855-1926]
links, timeline, and more links consolidated on the
'Labor, Capitalism & the Working Mind' page
at Working Minds / Solutions
American Labor History Timeline at Working Minds / Solutions
UFCW Labor History Timeline 1800-1900
UFCW Labor History Timeline 1900-1979
Fiction Related to Union Struggles
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"Triangle: A Novel" [2006] by Katharine Weber
A woman in a nursing home who survived the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire tells her story to her granddaughter. After the woman's death, a feminist scholar notices inconsistencies in the story and sets out to uncover the woman's secrets. FS&G 8¼x5¾ hardcover [6/2006] for $15.64 |
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"Coal Camp Justice: Two Wrongs Make A Right" [2005] by Ricardo L. García Univ NM Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [9/2005] for $16.47 sequel "Coal Camp Days: A Boy's Remembrance" [2001] Univ NM Press 8½x5½ hardcover [10/2001] for $24.95 |
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"Labor Days: An Anthology of Fiction About Work" [5 stories, 16 novel excerpts; 2004] Edited by David Gates Random House 8x5 pb [8/2004] for $11.16 |
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"Bucket of Blood: The Ragman's War" [2003] by R.S. Sukle
A fictional account of the 1927-28 strikes in the coalfields of Pennsylvania, based on family stories. iUniverse 9x6 pb [12/2003] for $17.95 iUniverse 9¼x6½ hardcover [12/2003] for $27.95 author's booksite |
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"Haymarket: A Novel" [2003] by Martin B. Duberman
A fictional account of the Haymarket Massacre of 1886, centering on labor martyr Albert Parsons. Seven Stories Press 9¼x6.3 hardcover [12/2003] for $17.47 |
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"The Sunnyside War" [2003] by Fred Civish Young Dan Cook grows up fast in the coal mines of Sunnyside, Utah, in the 1920s. Cedar Fort 9x6 pb [4/2003] for $15.96 |
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"The Coal King's Slaves: A Coal Miner's Story" [2002] by William G. Williams A tale of Scranton PA coal-miners circa 1890. Burd Street Press 9x6 pb [11/2002] for $10.47 |
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"Labor's Text: The Worker In American Fiction" [2000] by Laura Hapke Rutgers Univ Press 10x7 pb [2/2001] for $32.95 Rutgers Univ Press 10¼x7¼ hardcover [2/2000] for $0.00 |
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"Thunder On The Mountain: A Novel of 1936" [1999] by David Poyer A tale of labor strife in the Pennsylvania oilfields. Forge pb [8/2000] out of print/used St. Martin 9¾x6½ hardcover [3/99] out of print/used Chivers UNABR audio [1/2000] for $86.94 author website |
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"Tennessee's Coal Creek War: Another Fight For Freedom" [1995] by Chris Cawood Workers stand up to coal mine owners and the State Militia, in 1891-92. Magnolia Hill 9x6 pb [10/95] for $11.66 |
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"Storming Heaven: A Novel" [1987] by Denise Giardina A compelling novel of Appalachian labor strife in the 1920s. Ivy Books pb [5/94] for $6.99 Ballantine 8½x5½ pb [2/99] out of print/used W.W. Norton hardcover [8/87] out of print/used |
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"The Unquiet Earth: A Novel" [1992] by Denise Giardina Sequel to "Storming Heaven" above. Ivy Books pb [5/94] for $6.99 W.W. Norton 9½x6½ hardcover [5/92] out of print/used |
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"Lonely Crusade" [Knopf 1947] by Chester Himes
A young Negro man becomes a union organizer in the Los Angeles aircraft industry during World War II. Thunder's Mouth Press 8¼x5½ pb [6/97] out of print/used Thunder's Mouth Press 8½x5½ pb [11/86] out of print/used Knopf/Chatham/TMP hardcovers: out of print/used |
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Labor Novels by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair catalog at Amazon
Upton Sinclair [1878-1968] Page
"Flivver King: A Story of Ford-America" [1937]
"The book was instrumental in the formation of the United Auto Workers' Union."
Charles H. Kerr Publg 8¾x6½ pb [3/84] out of print/used
Charles H. Kerr Publg pb [1/87] out of print/used
Non-Fiction - General
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"Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression In The American Workplace" [2007] by Bruce Barry Berrett–Koehler 9¼x6¼ pb [6/2007] for $18.45 official booksite |
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"The State of Working America, 2006/2007" [10th edition 2006] by Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein & Sylvia Allegretto I.L.R. Press pb [12/2006] for $16.47 I.L.R. Press hardcover [12/2006] for $59.95 official book-series site • Economic Policy Institute |
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"Drawing The Line: The Untold Story of The Animation Unions From Bosko To Bart Simpson" [2006] by Tom Sito Univ Press of KY 9½x6¼ hardcover [10/2006] for $24.32 |
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"Death In The Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, The First Labor Movement & The Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America" [2006] by James Green Anchor 7¾x5¼ pb [3/2007] for $10.85 Pantheon 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2006] for $18.60 |
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"Taking Back The Workers' Law: How To Fight The Assault On Labor Rights" [2006] by Ellen Dannin I.L.R. Press 9½x6½ hardcover [3/2006] for $35.00 |
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"Solidarity For Sale: How Corruption Destroyed The Labor Movement & Undermined America's Promise" [2006] by Robert Fitch PublicAffairs 9½x7 hardcover [2/2006] for $18.81 |
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"Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism In The United States" [2006] by Sharon Smith Haymarket Books pb [2/2006] for $10.40 |
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"Mobsters, Unions and Feds: The Mafia & The American Labor Movement" [2006] by James B. Jacobs NY Univ Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [1/2006] for $20.76 |
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"Fired!: Tales of The Canned, Canceled, Downsized & Dismissed" [2006] Book & film edited by Annabelle Gurwitch Touchstone 8¾x5¾ pb [2/2006] for $12.97 L.A. Theatre Works audio CD of the play [7/2005] for $20.76 author's book, play & film site • official movie site Shout Factory Theatre color DVD [6/2007] for $17.99 film credits [aired March 2007] |
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"Restoring The American Dream: A Working Families' Agenda For America" [2005] by Thomas A. Kochan M.I.T. Press 9x6 pb [10/2006] for $11.16 M.I.T. Press 9x6 hardcover [9/2005] for $21.24 publisher's bookpage |
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"Slaves To Fashion: Poverty & Abuse In The New Sweatshops" [2004] by Robert J.S. Ross U.M.P. pb [10/2004] for $12.97 U.M.P. 9¼x6 hardcover [10/2004] for $65.00 |
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"Beasts of The Field: A Narrative History of California Farm Workers, 1769-1913" [2004] by Richard Steven Street listed as Los Angeles Times Book Review Best of 2004 Stanford Univ Press 10x7 pb [4/2004] for $19.77 Stanford Univ Press 10¼x7 hardcover [3/2004] for $75.00 |
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"Corruption and Reform In The Teamsters Union" [2003] by David Witwer Univ IL Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [6/2003] for $41.94 |
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"Blue-Collar Hollywood: Liberalism, Democracy & Working People In American Film" [2003] by John Bodnar Johns Hopkins Univ Press 9x6 pb [8/2006] for $25.00 Johns Hopkins Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [4/2003] for $45.00 |
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"The Union Member's Complete Guide: Everything You Want – And Need – To Know About Working Union" [2001] by Michael Mauer Union Comm'n Service 9x7¾ pb [11/2001] for $10.36 |
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"From The Folks Who Brought You The Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor In The United States" [2001] by Priscilla Murolo & A. B. Chitty; illustrations by Joe Sacco "[an] extraordinarily fine addition to U.S. history and labor literature" New Press 9.4x6¼ pb [2/2003] for $12.57 New Press hardcover [9/2001] out of print/used |
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"White Collar Sweatshop: The Deterioriation of Work & Its Rewards In Corporate America" [2001] by Jill Andresky Fraser W.W. Norton 8¼x5½ pb [6/2002] for $11.17 W.W. Norton hardcover [2/2001] for $26.95 |
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"The Great Labor Quotations: Sourcebook & Reader" [2000] by Peter Bollen Red Eye Press 9x6 pb [8/2000] for $13.97 |
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"Kids On Strike!" [ages 9-12; 1999] by Susan Campbell Bartoletti Houghton Mifflin 10x7½ pb [8/2003] for $9.95 Houghton Mifflin 10¼x7¾ hardcover [10/99] for $16.00 |
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"A Short History of The U.S. Working Class: From Colonial Times To The Twenty-First Century" [1999] by Paul Le Blanc Humanity Books 9x6 pb [7/99] for $24.00 Humanity Books 9¼x6¼ hardcover [7/99] for $52.00 |
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"Why Unions Matter" [1998] by Michael D. Yates
"particularly successful in the chapters that focus on the nuts & bolts of union activities" Monthly Rvw Press 9x6 pb [12/98] for $17.00 Monthly Rvw Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [12/98] out of print/used |
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"When The Mines Closed: Stories of Struggles In Hard Times" [1998] by Thomas Dublin, photographs by George Harvan Cornell Univ Press 9½x6¼ pb [9/98] for $23.95 Cornell Univ Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [9/98] out of print/used |
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"From The Ashes of The Old: American Labor & America's Future" [1998] by Stanley Aronowitz Basic Books pb [2/2000] out of print/used Houghton Mifflin hardcover [9/98] for $25.00 |
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"The Union Steward's Complete Guide" [1997] Edited by David Prosten Union Comm'n Service 10x8 pb [11/97] for $13.97 |
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"Negotiating Hollywood: The Cultural Politics of Actors' Labor" [1995] by Danae Clark A pioneering study of labor struggles in 1930s Hollywood Univ MN Press 9x6 pb [10/95] for $22.00 Univ MN Press 9¼x6 hardcover [10/95] for $44.95 |
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"The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure" [1992] by Juliet B. Schor Basic Books 7¾x5¼ pb [2/93] for $11.20 Basic Books hardcover [2/92] out of print/used |
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"The Electronic Sweatshop: How Computers Are Turning The Office of The Future Into The Factory of The Past" [1988] by Barbara Garson Penguin pb [10/89] out of print/used S&S hardcover [5/88] out of print/used |
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"The Rights of Employees & Union Members: The Basic A.C.L.U. Guide To The Rights of Employees & Union Members" [1984] by Wayne N. Outten, Robert J. Rabin & Lisa R. Lipman SoIL Univ Press 6¾x6½ pb [2nd edition 3/94] for $14.35 |
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"Dynamite: A Century of Class Violence In America, 1830-1930" [1984] by Louis Adamic A.K./Rebel Press 8¼x6 pb [6/84] for $12.99 |
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"American Labor Struggles, 1877-1934" [1982] by Samuel Yellen Pathfinder Press 8¼x5½ pb [2/84] for $23.94 Ayer hardcover [10/82] out of print/used |
"Out of The Sweatshop: The Struggle For Industrial Democracy" [1977]
Edited by Leon Stein
Times Books hardcover [6/77] out of print / [many] used
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"Strike!" [1974] by Jeremy Brecher
an examination of the mass strike South End Press 8½x5.4 pb [10/97] for $22.00 South End Press 8½x5½ hardcover [1/98] for $40.00 |
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"A History of American Labor" [1961] by Joseph G. Rayback Free Press 8¼x5½ pb [1/66] for $23.95 |
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"Labor's Untold Story" [1955] by Richard O. Boyer & Herbert M. Morais recommended by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. [1922-2007] UERMWA pb [12/55] out of print/used via Amazon available from UERMWA [24th printing] |
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"New Men of Power: America's Labor Leaders" [Harcourt Brace 1948] by C. Wright Mills Univ IL Press pb [9/2001] for $17.95 Univ IL Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [9/2001] for $40.00 A.M. Kelley hardcover [1/71] for $46.99 |
Non-Fiction - Historical Events
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"Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre & Class War In The American West" [2007] by Scott Martelle Rutgers Univ Press pb [8/2007] for $17.13 |
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"Pullman Strike of 1894" [for ages 9-12; 2006] by Rosemary Laughlin Morgan Reynolds Publng YA hardcover [4/2006] for $26.95 |
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"Slaughter In Serene: The Columbine Coal Strike Reader" [2005] by Eric Margolis, Joanna Sampson, Phil Goodstein & Richard Myers purchase online at Bread & Roses Workers' Cultural Center publisher's bookpage |
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"Labor, Civil Rights and The Hughes Tool Company" [2005] by Michael R. Botson, Jr. The National Labor Relations Board unanimously ended Jim Crow unionism & segregated labor unions at the giant Hughes Tool factory in Houston, Texas in July, 1964 - a victory for both the labor movement and the civil rights movement. Texas A&M Univ Press 9¼x6 hardcover [9/2005] for $18.06 see also the Howard Hughes [1905-76] Page |
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"Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants & The Struggle For The American Dream" [2005] by Bruce Watson Penguin 7½x5½ pb [7/2006] for $10.88 Viking 9½x6¼ hardcover [8/2005] for $18.96 |
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"Triangle: The Fire That Changed America" [2003] by David von Drehle Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover [9/2003] for $18.20 |
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"Hollywood Noir: Featuring Ronald Reagan" [2001] by Richard Olsen Xlibris 8½x5½ pb [10/2001] for $21.99 Xlibris 8¾x6 hardcover [10/2001] for $31.99 |
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"The Pullman Strike and The Labor Movement In American History" [for ages 9-12; 2001] by R. Conrad Stein Enslow Publrs 9¼x6¼ YA hardcover [3/2001] for $26.60 |
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"The Pullman Case: The Clash of Labor & Capital In Industrial American Society" [1999] by David Ray Papke Univ Press of KS 8½x5½ pb [4/99] for $12.95 Univ Press of KS 9x6 hardcover [4/99] out of print/used |
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"Pullman Strike of 1894: Turning Point For American Labor" [for ages 9-12; 1994] by Linda Jacobs Altman Millbrook Press YA hardcover [3/94] for $26.89 |
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"Thunder In The Mountains: The West Virginia Mine War, 1920-21" [1990] by Lon Savage a journalist's account of the miners' strike in Matewan, West Virginia Univ of Pittsburgh Press pb [10/90] for $14.95 Univ of Pittsburgh Press hardcover [10/90] out of print/used |
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"The Triangle Fire" [1985] by Leon Stein I.L.R./Cornell 8½x5½ pb [4/2001] for $16.95 Carroll & Graf hardcover [7/85] out of print/used |
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"Buried Unsung: Louis Tikas & The Ludlow Massacre" [1982] by Zeese Papanikolas; Foreward by Wallace Stegner Univ NE Press 9x6 pb [6/91] for $24.95 Univ UT Press hardcover [10/82] out of print/used |
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"The Autobiographies of The Haymarket Martyrs" [1978] Edited by Philip S. Foner Pathfinder Press pb [8/2001] for $20.94 |
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"The Great Labor Uprising of 1877" [1977] by Philip S. Foner Pathfinder Press 8¼x5¼ pb [1/2002] for $21.94 Pathfinder Press hardcover [6/77] out of print/used |
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"The Pullman Strike: The Classic First-Hand Account of An Epoch-Making Struggle In U.S. Labor History" [orig 1894] by Rev. William H. Carwardine Charles H. Kerr Publng 11x5 pb [1/94] for $12.00 |
Music, Videos, Other Media
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"Classic Labor Songs From Smithsonian Folkways" [2006] Smithsonian Folkways audio CD [5/2006] for $11.98 |
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"Dust Bowl Ballads" by Woody Guthrie
Buddha / BMG audio CD [7/2000] for $10.99 |
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"Carry It On: Songs of America's Working People" [1992] by Pete Seeger, Si Kahn & Jane Sapp Flying Fish audio CD [9/92] for $14.99 |
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Labor Film Festival
"China Blue"
[Teddy Bear Films Jan 2007]
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"Shopping will never be the same." A documentary filmed inside a factory in Guangdong, China that produces luxury bluejeans for the American & European markets. The peasant girls work long hours for insulting pay (six cents an hour!), suffer non-voluntary & unpaid overtime, have no benefits, and live in squalor.
Produced & directed by Micha X. Peled; featuring worker 'Jasmine' & factory owner Guo Xi Lam
Region 1 video/DVD not yet available; full credits from IMDb official movie site |
"Harvest of Shame"
[CBS News special Nov 1960]
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TV journalist Edward R. Murrow describes the harsh living conditions, endless travel & low wages of migrant farm workers in America.
Co-produced & directed by Fred W. Friendly; co-produced and hosted by Edward R. Murrow
New Video Group b&w DVD [5/2005] for $21.99 full credits from IMDb |
"Matewan"
[Cinecom/Goldcrest Aug 1987]
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Based on a coal miners strike in Mingo County, West Virginia in 1920. The mine owners brought in strike breakers and encouraged brutal violence against the local strikers.
Written & directed by John Sayles; starring Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham & David Strathairn
Lionsgate/Fox color DVD [6/2004] for $17.38 Hallmark Home Ent color VHS [4/97] for $13.99 Daring Records soundtrack CD [1/95] for $17.98 full credits at IMDb 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $19.99 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $14.99 "Thinking In Pictures: The Making of The Movie Matewan" [1987] by John Sayles Mariner Books 9x6 pb [10/87] for $11.20 Houghton Mifflin hardcover [10/87] out of print/used |
"Norma Rae" [Fox March 1979]
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A young Baptist mother with a dead-end job at a textile mill in the U.S. South agrees to help a Jewish New Yorker organize her co-workers into a union, going against management and many of her family & neighbors & friends.
Directed by Martin Ritt; written by Harriet Frank Jr. & Irving Ravetch; starring Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges, Pat Hingle, Barbara Baxley, Gail Strickland & Morgan Paull; won Oscars for Best Actress, Best Original Song; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Script Adaptation, WGA nomination for Best Feature Drama Script
Fox widescreen color DVD [4/2001] for $9.98 Fox double bill color DVD [12/2006] for $9.99 (with "Working Girl" [1988]} Fox color VHS [1/97] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb |
"On The Waterfront"
[Columbia July 1954]
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An aspiring prizefighter who runs errands for the local underworld witnesses the murder of a fellow dockworker who was going to testify to the Waterfront Crime Commission. When he meets the sister of the dead man, his conscience begins to assert itself.
Directed by Elia Kazan; script by Budd Schulberg; starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Balsam & Nehemiah Persoff; won 8 Oscars: for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Brando), Best Supporting Actress (EMS), Best B&W Cinematography, Best Set Decoration, Best Editing; Oscar noms for Best Supporting Actor x 3 (Cobb & Malden & Steiger), Best Music Score; won DGA & WGA Awards; listed on National Film Registry (1989); listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (10/2005)
Sony b&w DVD [10/2001] for $18.99 Sony b&w VHS [2/98] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb "On The Waterfront" posters at AllPosters [dot] com |
"Salt of The Earth [March 1954]
and "The Hollywood Ten" [1950 short film]
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A fictional, neo-realist-style tale about oppressed Hispanic-American zinc miners in New Mexico, who go on a strike led mostly by the women. The pro-labor stance and the alleged ties of many of the filmmakers caused the film to be the only officially-blacklisted movie in American history.
Directed by Herbert J. Biberman [B]; script by Michael Biberman & Michael Wilson [B]; produced by Paul Jarrico [B]; starring Will Geer [B]; listed on National Film Registry in 1992 {NOTE: Blacklisted members of the cast & crew are indicated with '[B]'.}
Pioneer b&w DVD [3/99] for $24.97 "Salt of the Earth" credits from IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia DVD includes "The Hollywood Ten" 15-minute docufilm written & directed by John Berry
"Salt of the Earth" only: b&w VHS [1/2000] for $19.95
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"Salt of The Earth: The Story of A Film" [1987] by Herbert Biberman [B] Harbor Electronic 9x6 pb [50th Anniv Edition 5/2003] for $21.21 New York Zoetrope hardcover [original 9/87] out of print/used Harbor Electronic CD-ROM [12/2000] for $25.47 |
 | "The Suppression of Salt of The Earth: How Hollywood, Big Labor & Politicians Blacklisted A Movie In Cold War America" [1999] by James J. Lorence Univ NM Press 9x6 pb [12/99] for $21.95 Univ NM Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [9/99] out of print/used |
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"Salt of The Earth: Screenplay & Commentary" [1977] Script by Michael Wilson [B]; commentary by Deborah Silverton Rosenfelt Feminist Press at CUNY 9x6 pb [9/77] for $14.95 |
"Strike" aka "Stachka" [Soviet/Goskino silent April 1925]
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During Czarist rule, workers at a railroad locomotive factory go on strike; as time drags on, excitement is replaced by hunger, management brings in provocateurs & police, and the military arrives to liquidate the workers.
Co-written & directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein [1898-1948]; co-written & assistant-directed by & starring Grigori Aleksandrov
Image Ent. b&w silent DVD [7/2000] for $22.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
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