Great Labor Quotations Sourcebook and Reader (review)

Great Labor Quotations Sourcebook and Reader. By Peter Bollen. United States: Red Eye Press, 2000. 353 pp. $19.95.

Peter Bollen's Great Labor Quotations Sourcebook and Reader is both a fascinating read and a useful reference tool for anyone interested in the American labor movement.

Most reference books do not make for interesting bedtime reading, but Bollen's collection of quotations is different. Bollen thoughtfully and skillfully brings American labor history to life with the "voices" of the people who lived and made that history. You read the words of songwriter and Wobblie organizer Joe Hill and "hear" his voice as he urges his comrades to organize and not waste time mourning his execution. You hear the voice of labor activist Mary Harris "Mother" Jones as she prays for the dead and fights like hell for the living. These are the actual words written or spoken at the time, and the effect is to take you back to the time and place of these events.

The author doesn't include only labor figures—Eugene Debs, Samuel Gompers, A. Philip Randolph, Clarence Darrow, Walter Reuther, Ceasar Chevez, and rank-and-file workers on the shop floor and on the picket line. Occasionally you will hear the voices of bosses, or political and religious leaders like Jay Gould, Henry Ford, Pope John Paul II, Franklin D. Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan, as they comment about the labor movement.

There is a lot of history in Bollen's book, but it is not a history book. If anything, it is about the universal human condition of work and the constant struggle of labor to improve its conditions. The quotations review how the concerns, sentiments, and issues facing today's labor movement are identical with those faced by labor a dozen or even a hundred years earlier. We see how the values and principles that have made the American labor movement such a strong force for progress, justice, and democracy are deeply rooted in our history.

Bollen's book tells a moving and powerful story about the American labor movement.

Readers will also find Bollen's book useful as a reference tool and source for quotations. There are 1,371 quotations organized into 17 chapters on such themes as the nature of work, organizing, solidarity, strikes, politics, civil rights, public employment, economics, corporations, global competition, and unemployment. The authors of the quotes are identified by their profession or office, along with the date of the quote, if known. Short biographies about some of the more notable people provide helpful background information. The book is well illustrated with period posters, photographs, and cartoons.

The quotations are numbered and indexed, which make it possible to find quotes by author, subject matter, and keywords. However, finding a particular quote can be difficult unless you know the author's name. The ideal solution would be to offer this book on a computer CD-ROM which would allow a search of the entire content.

Peter Bollen's Great Labor Quotations Sourcebook and Reader would be a worthwhile addition to any library.