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| The Glass Case Display features Steinbeck |
For our monthly display, we are featuring "The Toil of May." Labor in the U.S. used to be highly deregulated and workers had few, if any, rights. The climb up to eight hour work days, labor unions, workers' rights advocacy, safety regulation of workplaces, and government aid for the unemployed has been a long and complicated one. This month, we have two displays to explore times when labor demonstrations and discussions regarding working hours and conditions were particularly controversial.
The glass case display at the City Park campus highlights the work of John Steinbeck, particularly the 1940 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Grapes of Wrath - a work that has often been challenged or banned across the country. Set during the Great Depression, it traces the Joad family, tenant farmers who are forced to abandon their home in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl and set out for California, hoping to find a new life. The story discusses the poverty and prejudice many workers fleeing the great drought encountered as they moved west.
The hall display takes a look at the Haymarket Riot of 1886, when a peaceful labor demonstration in Chicago, supporting eight hour working days, erupted in violence. Some were killed, and many were wounded. Eight anarchists were found guilty of the bombing, although there remains a great deal of controversy over whether or not they were actually involved. In our display, you can see arguments on both sides of the issue, courtesy of Opposing Viewpoints.
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| The Hall Display features the Haymarket Riot |
Come take a look at our displays! You can also learn more by checking out our research guide, "The Toil of May."
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