The Hidden History of DC Labor
A. Philip Randolph memorial. Photo by Richard Renner.
By junior journalist Diego A. Esparza
DC has a rich labor history which I got lucky to learn about on a tour with about nine other people. And if you have interest in the history of labor in DC and the people that took part in it (and some still taking part in it) and the events that occurred including protests, then read on to find out what I learned on this tour. First of all, our tour guide’s name was Chris Garlock and when I asked him what would be his favorite part of the tour I could tell this was a hard question. His answer was, “My favorite is the first part which you’ll see in a second.” He then took us to see the memorial for the people who lost their lives working for Amtrak. Usually there are no memorials for people that die working, making this one very special.
Asking people on the tour why they came, I got many different answers like, “Because I like to walk around DC and it seemed like a good chance to learn things,” said Ellen, and “Because I like history and am interested in labor,” said Josh. Another reason some people came was because someone had a birthday and they decided that was what they wanted to do together as their way to spend the day. At the beginning of the tour, Chris pointed out “There are many monuments in DC, but very few about labor history.”
We then went to a memorial for A. Philip Randolph who joined the Socialist Party when he was 21. Later he founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He led the March on Washington in 1963. He said, “At the table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take . . . and if you can’t hold anything, you won’t keep anything. And you can't take anything without organization.”
DC has a rich labor history which I got lucky to learn about on a tour with about nine other people. And if you have interest in the history of labor in DC and the people that took part in it (and some still taking part in it) and the events that occurred including protests, then read on to find out what I learned on this tour. First of all, our tour guide’s name was Chris Garlock and when I asked him what would be his favorite part of the tour I could tell this was a hard question. His answer was, “My favorite is the first part which you’ll see in a second.” He then took us to see the memorial for the people who lost their lives working for Amtrak. Usually there are no memorials for people that die working, making this one very special.
Asking people on the tour why they came, I got many different answers like, “Because I like to walk around DC and it seemed like a good chance to learn things,” said Ellen, and “Because I like history and am interested in labor,” said Josh. Another reason some people came was because someone had a birthday and they decided that was what they wanted to do together as their way to spend the day. At the beginning of the tour, Chris pointed out “There are many monuments in DC, but very few about labor history.”
We then went to a memorial for A. Philip Randolph who joined the Socialist Party when he was 21. Later he founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He led the March on Washington in 1963. He said, “At the table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take . . . and if you can’t hold anything, you won’t keep anything. And you can't take anything without organization.”
Crane.
Photo by Richard Renner.
We then went to a monument for Japanese-American Internment. The memorial is often thought to be just an area with water and trees. This memorial is also a good place to see the Cherry Blossoms. We were shocked to read a quote by President Ronald W. Reagan that said: “Here we admit a wrong. Here we affirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law.”
We then walked along to the Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon. Taft made a bad law called the Taft-Hartley Act that undermines the power of unions.
After the Taft Memorial we went to the Francis Perkins Department of Labor Building. Perkins saw young women jumping to their death at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York and decided that there should be a department in the government that looks out for workers so things like that would not happen again. (The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire and since many of the elevators and doors were locked, very few could escape. People jumped to escape the fire and many of them died.)
We then walked along to the Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon. Taft made a bad law called the Taft-Hartley Act that undermines the power of unions.
After the Taft Memorial we went to the Francis Perkins Department of Labor Building. Perkins saw young women jumping to their death at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York and decided that there should be a department in the government that looks out for workers so things like that would not happen again. (The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire and since many of the elevators and doors were locked, very few could escape. People jumped to escape the fire and many of them died.)
At the Canadian Embassy the tour guide explained that he looked in old phone books from the 1860s to find out where the unions had their offices. The Knights of Labor was where the Canadian Embassy is now. The Knights of Labor was a union where everyone could join and everyone did start joining. People from bakers to carpenters to musicians wanted to join. It grew so fast that it could not keep up with its own growth. According to Kayla on the tour, her favorite part was the Canadian Embassy because of the architecture.
Then we went to the Federal Trade Commission. Jonathan’s favorite part was the Federal Trade Commission because of the way the guide described the artwork inside about labor. In the front of the building there was a statue of a man holding a horse called “Man Controlling Trade,” the horse representing trade, to show that we should control trade and not over trade.
Then we went to the Federal Trade Commission. Jonathan’s favorite part was the Federal Trade Commission because of the way the guide described the artwork inside about labor. In the front of the building there was a statue of a man holding a horse called “Man Controlling Trade,” the horse representing trade, to show that we should control trade and not over trade.
FDR memorial. Photo by Richard Renner.
Our next stop was the National Archives with the Roosevelt Memorial. Before Franklin Delano Roosevelt died, he said he would like his memorial to be no bigger than his desk, to be made of any type of stone, and to only say, “In Memory of…”
We also learned that before Joe Hill was executed in Utah, he said he did not want to be buried there. So, they cremated him and put his ashes in lots of envelopes to be sent to different IWW locals. But then, the US Post Office confiscated one of the envelopes because they said it looked dangerous. After they decided it was safe, they gave it to the National Archives, even though it was supposed to go an IWW office. One of the IWW’s complained, so they gave the ashes to the IWW and the Archives kept the historic envelope.
Next we went to the Ronald Reagan Building and although Reagan said he didn’t believe in big government, the building named for him is the second largest government building in the United States. The sidewalk is split into two parts, one with red bricks and the other with gray. The red bricks belong to the DC city government and the gray bricks belong to the federal government. So if you get a permit from one of the two to protest, you can’t go on the other one’s side.
We stopped at the Willard Hotel, where we learned about the Bonus March. Chris told us how he and his father took two days to find the grave stones at the Arlington Cemetery for the two Bonus Marchers who were killed when the U.S. government attacked the veterans who were demanding the pay bonus that had been promised to them. One reason it took a while to find the graves was because their names were spelled differently on their gravestones than on the public records.
We also learned that before Joe Hill was executed in Utah, he said he did not want to be buried there. So, they cremated him and put his ashes in lots of envelopes to be sent to different IWW locals. But then, the US Post Office confiscated one of the envelopes because they said it looked dangerous. After they decided it was safe, they gave it to the National Archives, even though it was supposed to go an IWW office. One of the IWW’s complained, so they gave the ashes to the IWW and the Archives kept the historic envelope.
Next we went to the Ronald Reagan Building and although Reagan said he didn’t believe in big government, the building named for him is the second largest government building in the United States. The sidewalk is split into two parts, one with red bricks and the other with gray. The red bricks belong to the DC city government and the gray bricks belong to the federal government. So if you get a permit from one of the two to protest, you can’t go on the other one’s side.
We stopped at the Willard Hotel, where we learned about the Bonus March. Chris told us how he and his father took two days to find the grave stones at the Arlington Cemetery for the two Bonus Marchers who were killed when the U.S. government attacked the veterans who were demanding the pay bonus that had been promised to them. One reason it took a while to find the graves was because their names were spelled differently on their gravestones than on the public records.
Mural at AFL-CIO building. Photo by Diego Esparza
The last building was the AFL-CIO, which we wouldn’t have been able to get into, but then Darryl Moch (Labor Heritage Foundation) showed up as we were peering in the windows and invited us in. In the building we saw two beautiful mosaics by Lumen Winter. We also saw an original painting by Ralph Fasanella.
Chris wrapped up the purpose of the tour by saying, “In history, what happened is not so important as to why it happened, and what we can learn from it.”
Chris wrapped up the purpose of the tour by saying, “In history, what happened is not so important as to why it happened, and what we can learn from it.”