1.4_A Century of Radical Labor History in the Pacific Northwest
Channel: Pacific Northwest Labor History Association
Date: 2021-08-05

Session 1.4             A Century of Radical Labor History in the Pacific Northwest

Presenters: 
Kim England
Aaron Goings
James Gregory

Labor in the Pacific Northwest has proved to be a vital and even radical force shifting society towards social and economic justice. In this panel, Kim England, Jim Gregory, and Aaron Goings weave together more than a century of working-class history, focusing on the Northwest’s diverse labor and left movements, its rich history of working-class women’s organizing, and the employers’ organizations that challenged—and often defeated—workers’ movements.

Kim England is the Harry Bridges Endowed Chair in Labor Studies at the University of Washington. She is also Professor of Geography and her current research focuses on the migration of care workers, domestic workers’ activism and workplace rights.

James N. Gregory is a professor of History and director of the Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium at the University of Washington. He is the author of numerous articles and prize-winning books, including The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America and American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California. Most recently, University of Washington Press published The Seattle General Strike Centennial Edition with an introduction, photo essay, and afterword by James Gregory.

Aaron Goings is Associate Professor of History at Saint Martin’s University. He was previously Senior Researcher at the Institute of Advanced Social Research at the University of Tampere. His research centers on labor, immigration, and business history. Goings's most recent book is The Port of Missing Men: Billy Gohl, Labor, and Brutal Times in the Pacific Northwest (UW Press, 2020)