The golf links lie so near the mill
That almost every day
The laboring children can look out
And see the men at play
Sarah Cleghorn 1915
In 1832, Elizabeth Gaskell moved to Manchester, England where she spent most of her life. After her only son's death intensified her concern for the poor and created within her a desire to "give utterance to their agony", she wrote Mary Barton which detailed the life and struggles of a working class family during the Industrial Revolution; a time wracked by bitter class struggle, economic depression, and the fight for trade unions.
Sadly, we find ourselves involved in a similar struggle. Workers' rights are being systematically taken away by corporations, political stooges who do their bidding, and gullible sheep who mindlessly bleat out the party line.
Together we can fix this. Visit your public library and check out books on labor history. Read up on the many positive contributions of the men and women who have made our lives far better through a unified effort.
Every benefit we have in our working lives has been hard won by union men and women and we need to point that out to everyone we meet. Let's put a stop to the knee jerk reactions far too often associated with anything union.
Spend some time here
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
Do not miss this song and video ... Hat Tip to my friend from twitter @umvelo
Do not miss this song and video ... Hat Tip to my friend from twitter @umvelo
So true, you know they will not be teaching about the worker's struggles in school if they have their way. www.historyplace.com is one of my favorite sites to visit. If a person can't make it to the library, this is a great place to browse.
ReplyDeleteI agree... if WE don't make kids aware of this, it isn't going to happen...
DeleteSo, is your posting of this twice speaking to the History Does Repeat? :) The poem and image are the perfect way to express outrage at what was at one time in this country and why thinking persons with their souls in place still fight mightily against its return. The Lewis Hine photos are a powerful indictment of this not-so-long-ago period in our history. May we all look deep into the eyes of those children and make a commitment to what surely lived in their little hearts despite everything they endured.
ReplyDeleteSigh, twas my stupidity ... Hine's work should be displayed in every school and the Capitol Rotunda ...
DeleteStellar site... well worth spending time in its content.
ReplyDeleteSome thoughts... Unions helped end child labor, gave us weekends and fair wages/relative income equality, spearheaded the fight for The Family and Medical Leave Act and won widespread employer-based health coverage. Unions have accomplished perhaps more than can be listed easily within a reply.
Thanks for the moving and informative pictures, video, site and the wisdom... We must learn from the hardships and heartaches of our collective past... "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana