The North American Labor History Conference (NALHC) has been on hiatus since the 2020 pandemic, but we are coming back this year amid a presidential election campaign to consider questions about the relationship between work and democracy. The year 2024 comes at a crucial juncture for workers and labor organizations in the United States and throughout the world. We have been celebrating anniversaries of democratic movements globally; these movements fight for empowerment and political rights, causes that are embraced by many working-class radicals and labor organizers, both men and women. The rise of nationalist and other authoritarian movements threatens political and economic rights in the United States and internationally.

The working classes, people of color, ethnic minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ people are organizing against voting restrictions while struggling against apathy and fear. As labor scholars, historians, activists, archivists, and union members, we meet to consider the relationship and role of workers, labor unions, and worker organizations in democratic societies, and we discuss the importance of democratic governance in local, institutional, national, and global contexts. Your participation in this conference is an important contribution to that discussion.

Panels at this year’s NALHC will be held in either the historic Reuther Library or the Student Center. A historical exhibit down Reuther Mall on campus will show the way between buildings. Registration is free for all Wayne State students. Students who register for one day are automatically registered for each day of the conference.

CONFERENCE EVENTS, DAY ONE:

FIRST PANEL SESSIONS: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
PANEL 1A: Rethinking Anti-Labor Violence in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
PANEL 1B: The Union Makes Us Strong: Discussion with Sam Fishman Travel Grant Recipients

SECOND PANEL SESSIONS: 2:15 PM – 3:45 PM
PANEL 2A: Labor and the Socialist Imaginary during the Progressive Era
PANEL 2B: Proactive Partnerships: Responsive & Inclusive Collecting, Outreach, & Instruction Programs

FIRST PLENARY SESSION: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Elizabeth Faue, Director, Labor@Wayne, Welcome and Introduction
Lex McMenamin, “Hot Labor 2024: Gen Z Joins the Labor Movement”
Reuther Archives, Atrium

RECEPTION: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Reuther Archives, Atrium