Ryan Brown

Just packed years' worth of collected DSA and labor movement ephemera, buttons, clothes etc. into a 27-gallon storage bin forebodingly labeled "Left archive *1*"...

Days after some of these photos were taken, workers at the plant -- still on strike -- held a vote on whether to switch union representation. UE was forced out after local officers refused to sign federal affidavits vowing they weren't Communists, a requirement of the then-new Taft-Hartley Act.

A group of women strikers with sandwich board signs outside a plant gate

Strikers inside a building with signs reading "Beaver Westinghouse workers on strike" and similar messages

Strikers circling outside a plant fence with "Strike" signs

Some good picket signs (not to mention some great '40s styles) among Westinghouse UE strikers in Beaver, Pa., 1948.

From Pitt's United Electrical Workers archive, which is worth perusing: digital.library.pitt.edu/collection/u...

Wartime strikes: The struggle against the no-strike pledge in the UAW during World War II - Martin Glaberman Martin Glaberman's examination of American car industry workers wildcat strike wave, despite their own union's no strike pledge, during World War 2.

Labor historians have written about the national impacts of World War II wildcat strikes and the push against the no-strike pledge (you can find a PDF of the great Martin Glaberman's book on the topic here: libcom.org/article/wart...)

Striking coal in wartime - Red Pittsburgh In late April 1943, as allied troops drove the last German forces to the tip of Tunisia, U.S. coal miners launched an unprecedented wartime strike wave that would last more than six months. Standing a...

Local workers -- plumbers, bus drivers and factory workers, among many others -- carried out wildcat strikes throughout the war. I wrote a brief piece on local 1943 coal strikes here:
redpgh.com?p=59

Headline "Labor dispute flares anew"

Further walkouts rattled the company after union leaders were fired, reportedly with the support of United Steelworkers officials (national unions maintained a no-strike pledge during World War II).

Newspaper headline "400 are idle as steel mill strikes grow -- Plane production hard hit in new walkout at Youngwood plant."

Photo of cars parked outside a factory, ca. 1940s

On this day in 1944, thousands of Westmoreland County workers joined a wildcat strike wave that disrupted local war industries. Robertshaw Thermostat workers reportedly struck in protest against a foreman, with those in other locations joining in sympathy.

(Plant photo Kristina Serafini/TribLive)

This god me curious so I checked, and now I'm honored that someone thought my lil' local history book was worth uploading to Libgen

Democratic Socialists of America 2025 calendar

June page of calendar, with left history events shown each day of the month

This cute @demsocialists.bsky.social calendar that arrived in the mail today; as a left history nerd I appreciate any source of "this day in history" factoids to offer unsolicited

I've never actually read his political work, but as an amateur astronomy dilettante, his History of Astronomy is a really fascinating (if presumably dated?) introduction.

(Source: Communist Collection of A.E. Forbes, Pitt special collections)

Poster: "Beat the New Year in! Cabaret Dance and floor show." Sponsored by Pittsburgh Workers School. A figure hangs from a ringing bell.

Ring in 1938 with a New Year's cabaret from the Communist-run Pittsburgh Workers School! 50 cents to see the show (and hear Agnes Pendergrast and Her Sweethearts of Rhythm).

In response to the June 1863 Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania the free Black community of McGuire’s Hill, on Pittsburgh’s south side, labored on what they dubbed Fort Robert Smalls. Today an effigy of fort’s namesake made it to the site of the all but forgotten stronghold.

"Citizen Marx" by Bruno Leipold

Among the gifts:

Mantelpiece with a menorah, mini Christmas tree, tiny Festivus pole and books including Capital

The mantel with all family spiritual traditions represented: Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, Marx

Stores shut down across 13 major cities, including Pittsburgh, which is absolutely a union town!

day 1 was amazing.......
but wait until you see day 2 😏

Here's today's anchor pickets! While many more stores are going on ULP strike today, workers want you to turn out for THESE pickets! ⬇️

Don’t live near a picket line? We still need you! Host a canvassing event - tinyurl.com/SBWU-canvass

A news item, "Socialists to meet," detailing the meeting of a Pittsburgh socialist branch in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

A news item this day in 1931: a meeting of the Squirrel Hill branch of Pittsburgh's Socialists. They met at the site of today's Murray Ave. Giant Eagle.

While this was long after the party's local heyday (eclipsed by Communists), the Socialists still held regular meetings all over the city.

Is the South Fork mentioned here the one near Johnstown? Just curious

My treasured original copy of "Punching Out," Glaberman's classic 1952 pamphlet (which you can read here: libcom.org/article/punc...)

Utopian communities in the mid-19th century US. From: Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, vol 1.

👁

Back when I was working in news in Altoona, I avoided this dispute by always writing "west-central Pennsylvania" so no one could yell at me

News clipping of a story in which anarchist Errico Malatesta caused a stir by refusing to wear Italian colors at a Pittsburgh banquet honoring local cultural societies.

Errico Malatesta

One of these days I need to research a more detailed history of Italian anarchism in Pittsburgh. Errico Malatesta supposedly caused a stir here when he refused to wear Italian colors at a banquet.

@mgouldhawke.bsky.social, have you come across any Malatesta writings that reference time spent here?

A news clipping from 1900 identifying the locations of anarchist clubs in Pittsburgh. It quotes a hotel keeper who names addresses along Penn Ave. as "red" hangouts.

An 1890 Pittsburgh map section showing Penn Ave. from 11th Ave. up.

In 1900, the local press identified the western end of the modern-day Strip District as "the center of the Italian 'reds' of Pittsburgh." Anarchist clubs and houses could be found along Penn Ave. (this article IDs the site of the modern Penn Liberty Plaza as a meeting house).

The famously individualistic middle ages, when people weren't subject to a complex web of mutual obligations

The books "The Golden Horde" by Nanni Balestrini and Primo Moroni, "Workers and Capital" by Mario Tronti, "Storming Heaven" by Steve Wright

Birra Moretti

Apple playlist "Pop Italiano '70s"

Saturday night 🤌

Pittsburgh’s lost Lithuanian left - Red Pittsburgh Lithuanian immigrants in Pittsburgh joined communist and socialist groups and sparred over national politics. Today, only a few signs of the era remain.

In the 1930s and '40s, Pittsburgh was home to a robust left-wing Lithuanian culture, including meeting halls and workers' organizations. I wrote about that largely forgotten history:
redpgh.com?p=249

Social Socialists: A number of Allegheny Socialists gave an entertainment at Jefferson Hall, Allegheny, last evening. The exercises were opened by a concertina solo, followed by a zither duet. The event of the evening was a comedy in the German language entitled the "Warming Pan." Judging from the enthusiastic applause some of the sayings must have been funny.

A pleasant 1885 gathering by German socialists on the North Side of Pittsburgh. "A number of outsiders were present who were disappointed, as they expected to hear bloodthirsty and dire threats."

"Since he became an anti-Fascist..." FIGHT: Against War & Fascism, Nov. 1936