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Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Labor History

Republican Ascendancy: The Gubernatorial Career Of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain And Its Consequences, 1866-1881, Michael Bailey Jan 2016

Republican Ascendancy: The Gubernatorial Career Of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain And Its Consequences, 1866-1881, Michael Bailey

Maine History

Joshua Chamberlain is a revered hero of the Civil War, an icon for both scholars and the broader public. His life after the Civil War, however, remains largely unexplored. This article uses Chamberlain’s addresses, legislative records, and other primary sources to explore his four-year career as governor of Maine. Reflecting an interesting national parallel, this article reveals Chamberlain’s rise, his policies, and the consequences of those policies. Having risen to political prominence with the Republican Party thanks to the popularity of the Civil War, Chamberlain and his party enacted a number of policies designed to promote industrialization and economic growth …


The Bodwell Granite Company Store And The Community Of Vinalhaven, Maine, 1859-1919, Cynthia Burns Martin Jun 2012

The Bodwell Granite Company Store And The Community Of Vinalhaven, Maine, 1859-1919, Cynthia Burns Martin

Maine History

From the late 1850s to the late 1910s, Bodwelll Granite Company on Vinalhaven Island operated a Company Store from which employees could purchase a wide variety of consumer goods. In the early decades of its existence, the Company Store was generally popular with the company’s employees and the island community. Because of certain competitive advantages, and because the company was guaranteed a profit through federal contracts, the company store often had lower prices than its competitors. But by the late nineteenth century, the store’s prices were often higher than its competitors and the store became part of the growing rift …


A Company Of Shadows: Slaves And Poor Free Menial Laborers In Cumberland County, Maine, 1760 – 1775, Charles P.M. Outwin Jun 2012

A Company Of Shadows: Slaves And Poor Free Menial Laborers In Cumberland County, Maine, 1760 – 1775, Charles P.M. Outwin

Maine History

Although slaves and poor, free menial laborers were by no means a majority of the population in late colonial-era Maine, they represented a culturally and socioeconomically significant part of commercial society there, especially at Falmouth in Casco Bay (now Portland) and in coastal Cumberland County. This essay uncovers the lives of the Falmouth’s small slave population and its larger poor menial laborer population from 1760 up to the port city’s destruction by the British in 1775. The author was granted a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maine in 2009. He is a member of the Maine Historical Society, …


“I’Ve Got A Million Of These Stories”: Workers’ Perspectives At The Eastern Fine Paper Corporation, 1960-2004, Amy Stevens Dec 2009

“I’Ve Got A Million Of These Stories”: Workers’ Perspectives At The Eastern Fine Paper Corporation, 1960-2004, Amy Stevens

Maine History

Maine’s modern history is punctuated by factory closings — the textile mills in the 1950's, the shoe factories in the 1980's and 1990's, and most recently the paper mills in various corners of the state. Although numerous studies document the economic impact of these unfortunate events, we have little recourse to understanding the human impact — the stories of the men and women whose lives were so closely entwined with the mills and the communities they so often founded and supported. In this article, Amy Stevens weaves together the documents and the stories that provide a multifaceted picture of the …


Norman Wallace Lermond And His Quest For The Cooperative Commonwealth, Charles Scontras Feb 2005

Norman Wallace Lermond And His Quest For The Cooperative Commonwealth, Charles Scontras

Maine History

Norman Wallace Lermond was Maine's premier socialist leader from 1900, when he first appeared on the state party ticket, until his death in 1944. As such, he represents both the persistence and the frustration of radical politics in a state renowned for its individualism and political conservatism. Lermond's career entailed a series of compromises and contradictions as the socialist leader navigated the shoals of reform and revolution—endorsing political action but eschewing its practical “step-at-a-time" agenda. Through all this, Lermond remained committed to his utopian vision of a classless and harmonious society, in which the failings of capitalism would be swept …


“Hard Work To Make Ends Meet”: Voices Of Maine’S Working-Class Women In The Late Nineteenth Century, Carol Toner Aug 2004

“Hard Work To Make Ends Meet”: Voices Of Maine’S Working-Class Women In The Late Nineteenth Century, Carol Toner

Maine History

In 1887 the Maine legislature responded to pressures from the Knights of Labor and an increasingly agitated industrial labor force by instituting the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics. The bureau’s job was to examine the state's workplaces and provide information to guide the legislature in making labor law. Reflecting the ideals of the popular Knights of Labor, the bureau initially focused its investigations on female as well as male workers. When the bureau requested that workers fill out questionnaires about their work, hundreds of women responded, leaving a rare first-hand account of women’s attitudes toward their working and living …


To ‘Make This Port Union All Over’: Longshore Militancy In Portland, 1911-1913, Michael C. Connelly Apr 2002

To ‘Make This Port Union All Over’: Longshore Militancy In Portland, 1911-1913, Michael C. Connelly

Maine History

n 1853 the Grand Trunk Railroad connected Portland to Montreal and to the grain trade of the Canadian interior. Some three decades later, the city's predominantly Irish longshoremen formed a Benevolent Society and, in an ongoing search for job security in this volatile trade they voted, just before World War I, to affiliate with the International Longshoremen’s Association, hoping “to make this port Union all over." Michael Connolly's article explores the decisions and actions that led up to this important event in Maine's labor history. Dr. Connolly is the grandson of a charter member of the Society. He is Associate …


Non-Adversarial Labor Relations In Nineteenth Century Maine: The S. D. Warren Company, Charles A. Scontras Jun 1997

Non-Adversarial Labor Relations In Nineteenth Century Maine: The S. D. Warren Company, Charles A. Scontras

Maine History

Like industrial corporations all across America, the S. D. Warren Company searched for a policy that would maintain labor peace at the company's mills. Founder Samuel Dennis Warren's solutions helped set the themes for Progressive-era experiments in “welfare capitalism. " While there was no mistaking of promoting a new morality for American industrial society. Charles A. Scontras, professor of political the hierarchical nature of decision-making at the company, the Warren family saw itself in a larger role science at the University of Maine and research associate at the university's Bureau of Labor Education, has written numerous books on organized labor …


Franco-Americans And The International Paper Company Strike Of 1910, Anders Larson Jun 1993

Franco-Americans And The International Paper Company Strike Of 1910, Anders Larson

Maine History

In 1910 International Paper Company workers in Livermore Falls successfully engineered a thirteen-week strike. Meanwhile, the same effort in Rumford Falls failed dramatically. Historically, Franco-Americans have been characterized as conservative and reluctant to join labor unions. This holds true for Rumford, but those in Livermore Falls stood behind the strike effort. Anders Larson explores this stereotype as he analyzes the strike experience in the two communities.


The Padrone, The Sojourners, And The Settlers: A Preface To The "Little Italies" Of Maine, Alfred T. Banfield Jan 1992

The Padrone, The Sojourners, And The Settlers: A Preface To The "Little Italies" Of Maine, Alfred T. Banfield

Maine History

The article provides a history of Italian immigration to and settlement in Maine.


Franklin Muzzy: Artisan Entrepreneur In Nineteenth-Century Bangor, Carol Toner Sep 1990

Franklin Muzzy: Artisan Entrepreneur In Nineteenth-Century Bangor, Carol Toner

Maine History

This article provides an overview of the life of an artisan and business man during the 19th century in Maine.


Maine Lobstermen And The Labor Movement: The Lobster Fishermen’S International Protective Association, 1907, Charles A. Scontras Jun 1989

Maine Lobstermen And The Labor Movement: The Lobster Fishermen’S International Protective Association, 1907, Charles A. Scontras

Maine History

This article provides a history labor union organization among lobster fishermen in Maine.


Vinalhaven Lobstermen’S Co-Operative, 1938, Edward M. Holmes Jun 1989

Vinalhaven Lobstermen’S Co-Operative, 1938, Edward M. Holmes

Maine History

The author describes his experience helping the lobstermen of Vinalhaven to form cooperative buying and marketing club, in 1938.


Perspectives On Children In Maine’S Canning Industry, 1907-1911, Jane E. Radcliffe Apr 1985

Perspectives On Children In Maine’S Canning Industry, 1907-1911, Jane E. Radcliffe

Maine History

This article discusses the role of young children in the canning and preserving of local fruits, vegetables, and shellfish in Maine during the latter part of the nineteenth century.