PNLHA issues call for papers for 2019 Convention in Portland

Labor history group plans to commemorate 100th anniversary of the Seattle General Strike and Centralia Massacre at May 3-5 event.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Next year, the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association will be involved in several activities to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Seattle General Strike and the Centralia Massacre, which both happened in 1919. The organization plans to include presentations on both at its 2019 PNLHA Conference, scheduled for May 3-5 in Portland.

If you are interested in getting involved in these centennial activities and/or sharing your knowledge on the subjects, the PNLHA has issued its call for papers, presentations and performances for its 2019 Conference, which are due by Jan. 7, 2019. Here are the details:

General Strike 1919-2019 – Radicalism, Repression, and Solidarity

2019 marks the 100th anniversary of a watershed year in American and Canadian labor history, especially in the West. The year was defined by the Seattle and Winnipeg General Strikes, the Centralia Massacre, and the wave of state sponsored repression of immigrant workers during the Palmer Raids. Reflecting on these events a century later encourages us to consider the significance of radicalism as well as ways that organized labor has both enforced and overcome racial and gendered barriers to solidarity.

The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association seeks presentations, performances, and papers that examine labor history of the past 100 years, especially related to:

Labor Radicalism
Patriarchy and Feminism
Employer and State Repression
Racism, including White Supremacy
Immigrant Workers and Xenophobia

The PNLHA encourages proposals that illustrate how the events of 1919 demonstrate strategies and tactics of workers, employers, and the State, and how they are relevant to today’s labor struggles. Specific examples might include:

Labor and Race
Women in the Labor Movement
Labor and trade policy in historical perspective
The Open Shop movement in history:  The American Plan to the Janus decision
Right Wing populism and the working class

The PNLHA values intersectional approaches to working class history.  We especially encourage exhibits and performances of art and music that reflect working class culture and history, and non-traditional, popular education approaches.  Presentations should be addressed to a broad range of conference participants includng academics, students, workers and community members.

Submit one-page proposals electronically, by January 7, to the Conference Program Committee Coordinator, Nikki Mandell:  PNLHA2019@gmail.com