Wheeling Academy of Law and Science Foundation (WALS Foundation)

The 2024 Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium VIII

---

The 8th annual Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2024, in partnership with the WALS Foundation, the Ohio County Public Library, UAW International Union, the UAW Region 8, Ironworkers Local #549, and Ohio Valley Trades and Labor Assmebly.

 

 

An annual symposium focused on regional labor history, the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium is held on Labor Day Weekend near the birthday of Wheeling's own Walter Reuther (Sept. 1, 1907), longtime UAW and CIO President and Civil Rights Activist. It is also named for Wheeling Hall of Famer Augustus Pollack, stogie maker — the only business owner to have a monument built in his honor by union members.

View schedule below, download a brochure, or click here to view the Facebook event page.

TICKETS:
Admission is $30. Tickets may be purchased in advance through Eventbrite or in person by contacting Sean Duffy at [email protected].

➤ Purchase your ticket today online!

Free Pre-symposium Event:

Pittsburgh Labor Choir: Let Every Voice Be Thunder!: Friday, August 30 at 7 p.m.

The Pittsburgh Labor Choir sings protest music from labor and anti-fascist movements. The group teaches, learns, and practices songs old and new, popular and rare, from Western Pennsylvania and around the world. This will be their first performance outside of Pennsylvania. Admission is to this event is free.

---

VIEW PRIOR SYMPOSIUMS ONLINE:
➤ Click here to view the schedule from the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium VII
➤ Click here to view the schedule from the Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium VI
➤ Click here to view videos from the 2021 Livestream Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium V, "Remember Blair Mountain."
➤ Click here to view videos from the 2020 Livestream Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium IV, "Solidarity Against Hate."

---

2024 SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE

---

Doors Open: 9:00 am for Registration and *Continental Breakfast*

---

10:00 am: J. Albert Mann "SHIFT HAPPENS: The History of Labor in the United States"

SHIFT HAPPENS: The History of Labor in the United States sets out to historically contextualize labor history for young people.

J. Albert Mann is a disability activist and an award-winning author for young people.

---

11:00 am: Hamilton Nolan "The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor"

Inequality is the single biggest crisis plaguing America. Organized labor is the single strongest tool to fix it.

Hamilton Nolan is a labor journalist who writes regularly for In These Times magazine and The Guardian.

---

12 pm - Lunch Break

➤ Lunch provided
➤ Walking Tour to the Reuther & Pollack monuments led by Dr. Hal Gorby
➤ Happy Birthday Walter Reuther Celebration!

---

2:00 pm: Dr. Lou Martin "The New Labor Movement in Appalachia in the 1930s"

In the years after the Battle of Blair Mountain, the labor movement in Appalachia and the United States was in retreat. In the late 1920s, from the textile mills of southern Appalachia to the steel mills of the Ohio Valley, workers began to organize a new labor movement.

Dr. Lou Martin is one of the founders of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and an associate professor of history at Chatham University.

---

3:00 pm: Tom Hoffman and Kira Yeversky "The Union’s Inspiration: Solidarity Through Singing Past and Present"

Music has been part of the labor movement from the beginning. With organized labor on the rise, singing continues to play a vital role.

Tom Hoffman spent most of his professional life organizing. His first gig was organizing seniors to stand up to utility company rate requests. Kira Yeversky got her start in organized labor in 2019, when she organized a union with her coworkers at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Both are members of the Pittsburgh Labor Choir, who will be performing on Friday evening before the symposium at the First State Capitol.

---

➤ Download a brochure for the 8th annual Reuther-Pollack Labor History Symposium
➤ Purchase a ticket through Eventbrite
➤ View the Facebook event page