posts categorized asIn Memoriam
Jane LaTour (1946-2023)
I first met Jane LaTour over forty years ago on a picket line in the northern New Jersey town of Hillside.
Jane was working as an organizer for District 65, and I was coordinating the J. P. Stevens boycott in New Jersey for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union.
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Staughton Lynd (1929-2022)
Staughton Lynd, one of labor history’s icons, died on November 17. He was an academic and activist when those combinations were reviled as unbecoming of a professional, and he was blacklisted from the profession for his bold anti-war stance. He became a labor attorney, moved to Niles, Ohio and was a strategic player in the fight against steel-mill shutdowns and the destruction of steel communities in Youngstown, Ohio.
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Joseph Bruce Nelson (1940-2022)
Bruce Nelson was a great friend. I’ll never forget the first time I met him, in the Buttercup
Bakery on College Avenue in Berkeley, sometime in the late 1970s. Bruce came out of a
different ethno-class background than me, he had been in a different political sect, and he had
actually “industrialized,” which gave him enormous street cred in both of our circles.
Kathryn J. Oberdeck (1958 – 2022)
Kathryn J. Oberdeck (January 18, 1958 – June 8, 2022) was a passionate fighter against all
forms of inequality. She combined an unwavering commitment to the highest intellectual standards with a self-less dedication to community and family. In every aspect of her life Kathy “gave it her all.”
Richard L. Trumka (1949 – 2021)
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President, died on August 5, 2021 at the age of 72 after a lifetime of service dedicated to America’s working families. He worked to guide the labor movement amidst rapid changes with his signature emphasis on capital stewardship, organizing rights, global solidarity, and working-class political power.
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David H. Bensman, 1950-2020
Remembering Our Friend and Colleague, Professor David H. Bensman
A champion for workers, Bensman mentored two generations of future labor activists, organizers, and scholars during a 42-year career at Rutgers.
By Steve Flamisch originally published at Rutgers site
David H. Bensman, a respected professor and labor historian who retired last month as the longest-serving active faculty member in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, died on July 25.
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Geneva Evans, 1941-2018
A great labor leader passed away last month. You won’t read about her in the NY Times obituary, but you should. You won’t read about her in labor history books, but you should. You didn’t study about her in your history class in school, but you should.
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Judith Stein, 1940-2017
It is with a heavy heart that I forward the news that Judith Stein has passed
away after a long struggle with cancer. A dedicated member of LAWCHA, she was a
Distinguished Professor of History at City College and
Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the author of key books
and articles.
