Gallery Announcement: The Industrial Workers of the World Graphic Materials and Artifacts

In celebration of May Day, the Reuther Library is pleased to share a new image gallery: Industrial Workers of the World Graphic Materials and Artifacts.

While the Wobblies (IWW members) are often thought of as a union of industrial workers, lumberjacks, miners, and migrant workers, among others, they were also a union of inspired craftsmen and artists. Visually speaking, the Wobblies produced some of the most striking artwork and artifacts of all modern unions. This creative spirit can be found in the songs and poetry of Joe Hill, the music of Utah Phillips, and the intensely stylized artwork of Carlos Cortez, examples of which can be found in the gallery.

Although select images from the collection have been available on our website for some time now, this is the first time that we have been able to offer access to the full range of audiovisual material, including previously unprocessed artifacts and ephemera. The gallery features digital snapshots of posters, broadsides, textiles, sheet music, and artifacts. New additions, such as scans of stickers and membership stamps will be added in the coming months, so please check back for more. If you have any questions regarding the IWW’s audiovisual holdings, please contact the AV Department at reutherav@wayne.edu. Though our building is temporarily closed, we will do our best to assist you.

Solidarity, friends, and happy May Day.