(Lunch) book presentation by Peter Cole

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, when many US unions disgracefully excluded black and Asian workers, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) warmly welcomed people of color, in keeping with their emphasis on class solidarity and their bold motto: “An Injury to One Is an Injury to All!” Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly tells the story of one of the greatest heroes of the American working class.

A brilliant union organizer and a humorous orator, Benjamin Fletcher (1890–1949) was a tremendously important and well-loved African American member of the IWW during its heyday. Fletcher helped found and lead Local 8 of the IWW’s Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union, unquestionably the most powerful interracial union of its era, taking a principled stand against all forms of xenophobia and exclusion.

Peter Cole is a historian with teaching and research interests in the history of the United States, South Africa, along with a commitment to public art + history. Cole teaches the Department's courses on African American History, Urban America, the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and public history as well as the second half of the US survey, graduate seminars , special topics courses on South Africa, social movements, labor and working-class history, comparative history, as well as various historical methods courses. He researches the history of social movements, especially how workers and labor unions organize in ethnically and racially diverse societies. He also maintains scholarly interests in the history of African Americans, deindustrialization, South Africa, cities, technology, popular culture, historical memory, and the maritime world.  He is a Research Associate in the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Introduction: Aad Blok

Discussant: Marcel van der Linden

The seminar is open to the public, but with regard to accommodation, we would like you to register, secretar@iisg.nl, under mention of ''Peter Cole".