Monumental Labor is a three-part public event series and podcast that explores the memory of work and working peoples in National Parks and affiliated sites through their representation in monuments and memorials.
Why have certain events, labor leaders, or workers received attention, while others remain unrecognized? How are traumatic or violent events marked on the landscape? What form have labor monuments and memorials taken in the past and how might we re-imagine their presentation in the future?
Want to join the discussion and learn more? Register for one of the upcoming webinars below.
This 3-part virtual public event series explores the memory of work and working peoples in National Parks and affiliated sites through their representation in monuments and memorials.
Tragedy and Resistance at Port Chicago Naval Magazine
October 28, 2021, 6pm – 7:30pm ET / 3 pm – 4:30 pm PT
Join scholars and NPS staff to examine the history and ongoing significance of the United States’ worst World War II home front disaster. Speakers will address the context of the tragedy within African American labor and Civil Rights history, the role of the National Park Service as stewards of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, and the meaning of the commemorative landscape at the site. A recording of the event, along with resources, will be available at Public Event: Tragedy and Resistance at Port Chicago Naval Magazine – Labor History (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Justice Denied, Injustice Remembered
November 10, 2021, 6pm – 7:30pm ET / 3 pm – 4:30 pm PT
This event examines the history and contemporary significance of two commemorative sites in the Midwest: the Dred and Harriet Scott Statue, which is managed by Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument, a National Historic Landmark near Chicago, Illinois.
Working People’s Hidden Histories
December 9, 2021, 6pm – 7:30pm ET / 3 pm – 4:30 pm PT
This event examines the ongoing struggle to create new memorials to labor organizer Mother Jones and the history of worker organizing that led to the construction of memorials to Filipino Revolutionary leader Apolinario Mabini within War in the Pacific National Historical Park. Connections between marking labor’s past and contemporary organizing campaigns will also be explored. Co-sponsored with the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University and Women Innovating Labor Leadership (WILL) Empower.
