The Labor Heritage Foundation is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

which preserves and disseminates information and artifacts about the

labor history of the United States The labor history of the United States describes the history of organized labor, US labor law, and more general history of working people, in the United States. Beginning in the 1930s, unions became important allies of the Democratic Party. T ...

History

The genesis of the Labor Heritage Foundation was in June 1979.

Joe Glazer Joe Glazer (June 19, 1918 – September 19, 2006), closely associated with labor unions and often referred to as "labor's troubadour," was an American folk musician who recorded more than thirty albums over the course of his career. Early l ...

, a composer, musician and educator active in the

American labor movement The labor history of the United States describes the history of organized labor, US labor law, and more general history of working people, in the United States. Beginning in the 1930s, unions became important allies of the Democratic Party. T ...

. Glazer invited 14 other labor musicians to the

George Meany Center for Labor Studies The National Labor College was a college for union members and their families, union leaders and union staff in Silver Spring, Maryland. Established as a training center by the AFL–CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizin ...

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

to share musical and written compositions, and to discuss the effective use of music, song, poetry and chants in labor activism. The three-day event became an annual one, becoming known as the

Great Labor Arts Exchange The Great Labor Arts Exchange is an annual arts festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, which celebrates the labor history of the United States as well as preserves, advances and promotes the culture of the American labor movement. In June 1979, Joe ...

(GLAE). Over the next five years, the concept of "labor culture" and how the labor movement and the arts interacted, which Glazer and others held, expanded. In 1984, Glazer, with Joe Uehlein and Saul Schniderman, incorporated the Labor Heritage Foundation as a parent body for GLAE as well as to curate and promote the culture of the American labor movement. The Labor Heritage Foundation is governed by a board of directors. In 1986, the foundation hired its first executive director. The executive director, a full-time position, oversees the day-to-day operations of the foundation. The Labor Heritage Foundation shares office space with the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The Great Labor Arts Exchange continues to be held at the original venue, which became the National Labor College (from 1997 to 2014) and now is the Tommy Douglas Conference Center.

Programs

GLAE remains the largest and most prominent program of the Labor Heritage Foundation. The festival now includes a variety of artistic and cultural endeavors, such as cartooning, painting, film, puppetry, street theater, and photography. GLAE participants have included singer

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

, artist Ralph Fasanella, photographer Earl Dotter and poet

Chris Llewellyn Christopher Mark Llewellyn (born 28 August 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who is currently manager of the Swansea City Ladies. He has made over 350 appearances in the Football League for Norwich City, Br ...

. Concurrently with GLAE, the Labor Heritage Foundation also holds an annual Conference on Creative Organizing, which trains worker activists and labor union staff in the use of songs, chants, skits, costumes, food, and other cultural media in organizing and

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

campaigns. Publishing constitutes a third major program of the foundation. The organization has published a number of books and pamphlets. Topics include labor history, song, photography, poetry, children's activities, short story collections, biographies and autobiographies, graphic novels, and collections of graphic art. The foundation has also published a limited number of audio recordings, including song collections and oral histories. In 1996, the foundation developed the Labor Culture Consulting and Referral Service, a database of artists active in the labor movement, and published the ''Directory of Cultural Resources'' for use by local unions in identifying community artists and arts organizations which may be of assistance in union activities. The foundation supports regional labor

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lite ...

s and community arts exchanges on an irregular and limited basis.

Lifetime achievement award

The Labor Heritage Foundation began presenting the Joe Hill Award in 1989. The award honors individuals for a body of work in the field of labor culture.

References

*"Creative Workers Can Spark Organizing Drives." ''UAW Solidarity.'' May 2000. *Dunaway, David King. ''How Can I Keep from Singing: Pete Seeger.'' New York City: McGraw-Hill Cos., 1981. *Foner, Philip S. and Schulz, Reinhard. ''The Other America: Art and the Labour Movement in the United States.'' London, England: Pluto Press, 1985.
"Labor's Troubadour: Joe Glazer and Collector Records." Smithsonian Global Sound.
Smithsonian Institution. Accessed Jan. 25, 2007. *Martin, Douglas. "Joe Glazer, 88, a Singer and Songwriter for Labor." ''New York Times.'' September 21, 2006.

External links

Labor Heritage Foundation
{{Authority control History of labor relations in the United States Culture of Washington, D.C. Labor studies organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Arts organizations based in Washington, D.C.