Current Program Series

ON Apr. 20, 2022, Battle of Homestead Foundation presents a free Zoom panel discussion of the new book The Labor Board Crew: Remaking Worker-Employer Relations from Pearl Harbor to the Reagan Era by Ronald W. Schatz with commentary by Dr. Schatz, labor historian Jack Metzgar and union organizer John Lepley. The unlikely crew of technocrats and utopian reformers (including Clark Kerr, John Dunlop, Jean McKelvey, Marvin Miller) came together in 1942 by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the National War Labor Board, charged with mediating labor disputes that might threaten U.S. wartime production. After the war, the board's "graduates" would go on to play important roles in shaping America's economy and society for the next 50 years, handling thousands of grievances and strikes and impacting major legal decisions in civil rights, unions, student protests, school integration, professional sports and the end of the Cold War. This Battle of Homestead Foundation program explores the "labor board crew's" unique legacy and its application for labor organizers and mediators today. REGISTER HERE at Eventbrite for your Zoom link.  

ON May 19, 2022, the Battle of Homestead Foundation presents a free Zoom program marking the 100th anniversary of a brutal murder of Herman Martius, an immigrant shopkeeper and political activist in Erie, Pennsylvania ... a murder that came to symbolize the civic and social turmoil besetting American Democracy in the 1920s. Death of a Jewish Radical in Erie, 1922: Echoes from a Century Ago features historians Kipp Dawson and Lou Martin presenting their research on the crime, investigation and community aftermath. Ms. Dawson is a granddaughter of Herman and Beatrice Martius and has integrated her family's unique story with the historical events of the day. Dr. Martin is an associate professor of history at Chatham University specializing in American labor and working-class history. A CENTURY LATER, the murder of Herman Martius remains unsolved. But many of the dangerous political currents in the divided America of his time have resurged in our own. REGISTER HERE at Eventbrite for your Zoom link.  

Thur. June 23, 2022 @ 7:30 p.m. — the Battle of Homestead Foundation presents a free Zoom program discussing a newly-published book, The Bootleg Coal Rebellion: Pennsylvania Miners Who Seized an Industry. Author Mitch Troutman relates the remarkable tale of "The Bootleg Coal Rebellion" — Depression-era miners in Pennsylvania who sank their own mines on company grounds and fought police, bankers, coal companies and courts to form a union that would not only safeguard their livelihoods but also protect their collective autonomy as citizens and workers. Mitch Troutman is a writer, educator and organizer living in Central Pennsylvania. He is a direct descendent of bootleg coal miners and belongs to the group Anthracite Unite. *** REGISTER HERE for the June 23 program at this link. _________________

THURSDAY, Aug. 11, 2022 @ 7:30 p.m. — the Battle of Homestead Foundation presents a free Zoom program discussing new job opportunities for the Mon Valley that do not require reliance on fossil fuel production — "A New Vision for the Mon Valley – Alternatives to Plastics Production and Hydrogen Hubs". REGISTER on Eventbrite here. SPEAKERS: * Dr. Patricia DeMarco, author of Pathways to Our Sustainable Future: A Global Perspective from Pittsburgh, is a Rachel Carson Scholar and has served as director of the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University, where she holds an appointment as Senior Scholar. * Dr. Matt Mehalik, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, is executive director of the Breathe Collaborative, a coalition of local residents, environmental advocates, public health professionals and academics advocating for healthier air for the Pittsburgh region.

“Steelworkers in the 21st Century” is the title of a panel discussion presented by the United Steelworkers (USW) discussing recent organizing drives among museum workers, university professors and the emerging technology sector. * THE 2022 USW BERNARD KLEIMAN LECTURE * Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. * The Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall, PA 15120 * Program is free and open to the public __________________________________ RESPONDING TO America’s changing workforce, the USW has been successfully reaching out to workers in previously non-union sectors and institutions. As Pittsburgh’s economy has pivoted from heavy industry to “Eds and Meds”, the USW has won several organizing campaigns among museum workers, college professors and the emerging technology sector. “Steelworkers in the 21st Century” features a panel of newly organized USW members representing the United Tech Workers, United Museum Workers and Union of Pitt Faculty, moderated by Bernie Hall (Director of USW District 10) and Guillermo Perez (USW Staff Representative, District 10). They’ll discuss how organizing drives in these new occupational areas are transforming the union and its impact on America’s social and economic well-being. A native of Kendallville, Indiana, Bernard Kleiman, Esq. (1928-2006)spent his life and career helping workers get a fair deal. […]

THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2022 @ 7:30 p.m. The Battle of Homestead Foundation presents a free Zoom program by two U.S. and labor history professors, Joe White and Chuck Pennacchio, discussing the spread of Fascist movements in today's America, their threat to working people ... and how these movements can be defeated. Fascism is in the air these days. Some people think the United States has passed the point of no return — that is, the fascists have already won. Others say not to worry, it can't happen here. Still others talk about the likelihood of the fascism-friendly "Hard Right" gaining power for the indefinite future. Starting with a brief history of fascism in the 20th century, the speakers will discuss the threat of fascism to working people in the 21st century and the means by which fascism can be defeated. More details here. REGISTER here on Eventbrite.