Labor Culture: Chicago's Working-Class History

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Chicago, which last week gave the nation a President, has a long and rich working-class history, which can now be explored online in The Labor Trail: Chicago's History of Working-Class Life and Struggle. The Trail maps 140 significant locations in the history of labor, migration, and working-class culture in Chicago and Illinois. Presented by the Chicago Center for Working-Class Studies, the Trail is the product of a joint effort to showcase the many generations of dramatic struggles and working-class life in the Chicago area's rich and turbulent past. The Trail's neighborhood tours invite you to get acquainted with the events, places, and people -- often unsung -- who have made the city what it is today. In addition, the statewide map is just a starting point for further exploration of Illinois' labor heritage. The interactive Labor Trail expands the number of locations and provides a greater depth of information, while giving map users the chance to add their knowledge of locations and events in the Chicago area’s working-class history. (Editor’s Note: a similar DC Labor Map is in the works; email streetheat@dclabor.org if you’re interested in helping out).