Labor Day — Today is Labor Day, a day that most contemporary Americans associate with the end of summer, backyard barbecues, and family get-togethers. The origins of Labor Day, however, can be traced straight back to the labor movement of the late 19th century. Union organizers began calling for a national holiday to honor American workers in 1882. A few years later, in response to the unrest following the bloody end to the Pullman Strike in Chicago in 1886, President Grover Cleveland and the United States Congress quickly established Labor Day as a holiday. Labor Day became an official federal holiday in 1894. Thus, this year marks Labor Day’s 120th anniversary.
Olive Tilford Dargan
The American labor movement not only led to the creation of Labor Day, but it also gave rise to a sub-genre of American fiction—the proletariat novel. Often written in response to key events in the labor movement, these novels contributed to the protest over the long hours and unsafe working conditions that many Americans faced at the time. In many cases, the literary quality of these novels took a back seat to the political agenda being advocated, but some proletariat novels moved beyond propaganda and entered into the realm of high-quality literature. Olive Tilford Dargan’s Call Home the Heart is such a novel.
Published in 1932, Call Home the Heart is largely set in Gastonia, and it deals with the famous Loray Mill Strike of 1929. The central character in the novel is a southern working-class woman named Ishma Waycaster. She moves from the Great Smokey Mountains to Gastonia in order to find work in a textile mill. Partially inspired by the strike leader Ella May Wiggins, this character becomes involved in the efforts to improve working conditions at the Loray Mill. The strike figures prominently in the conclusion of the novel, but most of the story focuses on the central character’s personal conflicts and growing sense of desperation. Sometimes compared to Harriette Arnow’s The Dollmaker, Dargan’s Call Home the Heart is one of best novels to come out of the labor movement. It has been recently republished by the Feminist Press, and it is well worth reading.
As we celebrate Labor Day, we should take a moment to remember the history and literature associated with this holiday.
Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:
Allison Hutchcraft is featured in an interview posted on The Kenyon Review’s website. The interview can be found here: http://www.kenyonreview.org/conversation/allison-hutchcraft/
Janaka Lewis just had a poem titled “New Southern Blues” published in 27 Views of Charlotte: The Queen City in Prose and Poetry.
Quirky Quiz Question — The United States and Canada celebrate Labor Day, but most of the rest of the world celebrates a similar holiday called International Workers’ Day. On what day of the year does International Workers’ Day take place?
Last week’s Quirky Quiz answer –Bonnie Cone