The Labor Heritage Foundation is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

which preserves and disseminates information and artifacts about the

labor history of the United States The nature and power of organized labor in the United States is the outcome of historical tensions among counter-acting forces involving workplace rights, wages, working hours, political expression, US labor law, labor laws, and other working co ...

History

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

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

, a composer, musician and educator active in the American labor movement. Glazer invited 14 other labor musicians to the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in

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 area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

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 a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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 singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

, artist Ralph Fasanella, photographer Earl Dotter and poet Chris Llewellyn. 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 labour rights, rights for ...

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 is not solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...

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

Lifetime achievement award

The Labor Heritage Foundation began presenting the

Joe Hill Award The Joe Hill Award is awarded annually at the Great Labor Arts Exchange by The Labor Heritage Foundation. The award is named for Joe Hill (activist), Joe Hill, a radical songwriter, labor union, labor activist and member of the Industrial Workers ...

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 McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

Cos., 1981. *Foner, Philip S. and Schulz, Reinhard. ''The Other America: Art and the Labour Movement in the United States.'' London, England:

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Pluto Press states that it publishes "radical, left‐wing non‐fiction books", and is anti-capitalist and internationalist. It belongs to The Internat ...

, 1985.
"Labor's Troubadour: Joe Glazer and Collector Records." Smithsonian Global Sound.

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Accessed Jan. 25, 2007. *Martin, Douglas. (September 21, 2006) "Joe Glazer, 88, a Singer and Songwriter for Labor." ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

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. Working-class culture in Washington, D.C.