Waterfront Workers History Project facts for kids

The Waterfront Workers History Project is a special program at the University of Washington. Its main goal is to collect and share the history of workers and their unions. These workers were active in important jobs along the coasts and rivers of the western United States and Canada. This includes places like California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia.

The Project works with other groups, like the Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights History Projects. It is also supported by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. Together, they gather and present historical information. This information covers important events from 1894 all the way up to today.

About the Project's History

The Waterfront Workers History Project started in 2010. It began with a team of researchers and money from the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. The Project also partnered with a group called the Unions Reexamined Working Group. This group studies how unions are run and how they help workers stick together. The Project is a team effort involving professors, students, labor unions, and people from the community.

What the Project Does

The Project offers a huge collection of historical documents and photos. These are all available for learning and research. You can study these materials at the University of Washington. They are also available online through a large database on the university's website.

The online collection is organized by different types of jobs. There are sections for longshore workers (who load and unload ships). There are also sections for maritime workers (who work on ships). Other sections cover cannery workers (who process food) and shipyard workers (who build and repair ships).

Each section has short summaries and detailed reports. You can also find historical documents, old newspaper articles, and rare photographs. These sections show what daily life and work were like on the West Coast waterfront. They also show important events like strikes, where workers fought for their rights.

The Project especially focuses on the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. This union was very important. A special section looks closely at the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike. This big strike helped create the union. This section includes newspaper articles from that time. It also has a day-by-day story of what happened and many old photos. Another part of the Project looks at the life of Harry Bridges. He was a long-time president of the union. You can even see videos of his court appearances from 1950.

The Project also has more than 20 oral histories. These are interviews with longshore leaders, cannery workers, and experts in labor history. They talk about how workers on the West Coast waterfront often spoke up for their rights. They also share stories about Filipino cannery workers who fought for fair unions. Other job sections highlight less-known parts of waterfront work. For example, they show how groups like the Marine Cooks and Stewards and the Ship Scalers Union worked to bring people of different races together.

Important Collections

International Longshore and Warehouse Union Collection

The Project has received historical collections from the archives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). These were given by the union's historian, Gene Vrana. The ILWU donation includes rare digital copies of the Waterfront Worker. This was a newspaper for workers in the early 1930s. It helped workers speak up for their rights. This eventually led to the 1934 strike and the creation of the ILWU.

In October 2023, the ILWU faced financial difficulties. They filed for legal protection because they could no longer afford to fight claims by ICTSI.

Ronald E. Magden Collection

Ronald E. Magden is a historian, author, and professor at Tacoma Community College. In 1977, a local group of the ILWU (Local 23) was preparing a request for money. They asked Magden to help them write and edit the documents. The history he found about waterfront workers led to him spending 30 years researching longshoremen on the Pacific Coast.

The Ronald E. Magden Collection is at the University of Washington Special Collections Library. It has many historical materials. Researchers have used these to create a database with thousands of documents, books, films, and almost 200 digital photos of waterfront workers. These photos cover from the 1880s up to today.

Archives

• Ronald Magden Papers. 1879–2003. At the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
• Ship Scalers, Dry Dock, and Boat Yard Workers Union, Local 541 (Seattle, Washington). 1939–1991.