Hi Everyone -
Please join us for the next in our regular monthly series of free Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lectures, entitled "FDR: Friend of Labor" on Tuesday, July 24th from 1:00 - 1:45 pm in the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building's Rachel Carson Room.
Before the New Deal, American workers had little power. Employers set wages as low as they wished. Pensions and other benefits were rare. Workplace safety was poor and child labor widespread. Unions had only limited legal protection. Workers who tried to organize faced intimidation, firing, and even violence.
Upon reaching the presidency in 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt changed this balance of power. One of the most important skills that FDR cultivated over his years of public service was his knowledge of labor issues. He used these skills to immediately go to work on new labor legislation. Union organizers swiftly capitalized on these laws. Between 1930 and 1945 the percentage of unionized workers jumped from 7 percent to nearly 34 percent. Organized labor became a major economic force, and a powerful ally of FDR's Democratic Party.
Please join Park Ranger Michael Balis for a look at how FDR made labor an important part of the recovery from the Great Depression as well as the Allied victory during World War II.
All that are interested are invited. The Rachel Carson Room is located in the basement level of the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, towards the back of and adjacent to the Interior Department cafeteria. The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building is located at 1849 C Street, NW in Washington. Space for the program is limited so please go to the following link to register:
Please also note that we will be offering WebEx webinar access for this program. If you are interested in remote live access to this program, please note it on the online registration form or send an e-mail to
library@ios.doi.gov.
You may contact the
Library by phone at (202) 208-5815 or by e-mail at
library@ios.doi.gov for more information about this program and/or directions. For more information about
DOI Library resources and services, please visit the
DOI Library's website, located at
http://www.doi.gov/library.
We hope you can join us in person or virtually on July 24th!
George Franchois
Director - U.S. Dept. of the Interior Library
Office of the Secretary - Office of Facilities and Administrative Services (OFAS)
1849 C Street, NW, Room 1151, MS 1151
Washington, DC 20240
Phone: (202) 208-3796
Fax: (202) 208-6773