1 option
Sticking to the union : an oral history of the life and times of Julia Ruuttila / Sandy Polishuk.
Lippincott Library HD8073.R88 P65 2003
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Polishuk, Sandy, 1940-
- Series:
- Palgrave studies in oral history
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Ruuttila, Julia.
- Women labor leaders--United States--Biography.
- Women labor leaders.
- Women labor union members--United States--Biography.
- Women labor union members.
- Women in journalism--United States--Biography.
- Women in journalism.
- Women novelists--United States--Biography.
- Women novelists.
- Women radicals--United States--Biography.
- Women radicals.
- Women social reformers--United States--Biography.
- Women social reformers.
- United States.
- Labor unions--United States--History--20th century.
- Labor unions.
- History.
- Genre:
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- xix, 273 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Other Title:
- Life and times of Julia Ruuttila
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
- Summary:
- Although Married Four Times, Julia Ruuttila Claimed That the Love of Her Life was not a man but a union. From her Industrial Workers of the World origins to the CIO, the International Woodworkers of America, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, she stuck to unions throughout her long and vibrant life. A well known labor activist and journalist in the Pacific Northwest, Ruuttila chose the picket sign and the typewriter as her chief weapons. She possessed a tireless passion for workers and their struggles, whether founding a committee to free the last Wobbly prisoner from the Centralia Tragedy, leading the Ladies' Auxiliary of the IWA during an eight-and-a-half month lockout, or coming before the House Un-American Activities Committee. At the same time, her everyday hardships were not unlike many other working class women of her era: abusive husbands, illegal abortions, poverty, and single motherhood. Ruuttila's remarkable story unfolds in her own words, with author Sandy Polishuk skillfully placing the narrative in its historical context and pointing out where other sources conflict with Ruuttila's account. Sticking to the Union provides a much needed woman's perspective on American labor history of the twentieth century.
- Contents:
- 1. That's Where I Heard About Sabotage 17
- 2. The Valiant Never Taste of Death but Once 27
- 3. I Shed My Youth 37
- 4. A Baking Powder in the Masses 45
- 5. I Had a Typewriter 57
- 6. Free Ray Becker 77
- 7. You Can't Tell About People 89
- 8. They Were Paranoid in Those Days 95
- 9. My Bad Reputation Caught Up with Me 103
- 10. White Trade Only 115
- 11. It's Work That Interests Me 123
- 12. You Find Friends in Improbable Places 135
- 13. I Mean to Be Your Friend 143
- 14. The Lives of Working People Are Full of Desperation 159
- 15. You Sure Met Some Wonderful People 167
- 16. I Shall Not Come This Way Again 185
- 17. I Look Around 195
- 18. Vietnam 203
- 19. Too Old to Get Beat Up 213
- 20. The Trials of Parenthood 219
- 21. Do Not Look Backward When You Latch the Gate 223.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [257]-263) and index.
- ISBN:
- 1403962391
- 1403962405
- OCLC:
- 52040818
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.