“Labor history matters!”

...writes Kathleen McKirchy, the longtime Executive Director of the Metro Washington Council’s Community Services Agency, who recently retired. In this photo, Marcia Mikesell, Administrative Secretary at PPMWS/CWA (the Printing, Publications and Media Workers Sector of CWA) in Pittsburgh shows off a photo from the 1927 National convention of the International Typographical Union held in Indianapolis. McKirchy came across the photo about 15 years ago in an antique store “in Iowa or Indiana” and “rather than have it sit in my apartment” she got in touch with CWA — with whom the ITU merged — “to see if they might want it.” The folks at PPMWS got back to her and on a recent driving trip to Chicago, McKirchy stopped by to donate the photo. The framed stuff above Mikesell are old tools and artifacts of the printing trades. “These members from 94 years ago did their bit to advance the labor movement,” says McKirchy. “Now it’s up to us today to create new exciting history.”
photo credit Kathleen McKirthy