12 Places to Visit for a Very Union Road Trip
By PJ DelHomme
If you’re hitting the road this summer for a road trip, consider stopping at a union memorial or Union Sportsmen’s Alliance project site. Stretch your legs and learn a little union history.
I Am A Man Plaza—Memphis, Tennessee
During the Memphis sanitation strike of 1968, African American sanitation workers demanded better pay and working conditions. The striking workers used the phrase “I am a man” to gain dignity and demand respect. The strike gained national attention and the support of civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who traveled to Memphis to join the cause. The strike turned violent when Dr. King was assassinated while in Memphis.
Monument to Labor—Omaha, Nebraska
“Labor” is the name of a monument along the Missouri River commemorating union labor’s contribution to Omaha. The monument consists of five eight-foot-tall statues of laborers working around massive ladles taken from the Asarco refinery in Omaha. It’s the second-largest monument dedicated to labor in the country. Detroit’s Transcending Monument to Labor is the largest. “This monument stands as a testimony to (union laborers’) hard work to make this city a great place,” said then-Gov. Mike Johanns. “This monument also recognizes the hard work and contributions of labor in Nebraska.” The bronze, steel, and concrete sculpture sits along Lewis & Clark Landing.
Torstenson Youth Conservation Education Center—Rockford, Illinois
Along the Pecatonica River, the Torstenson Youth Conservation Education Center sits on 750 acres of property and includes woodlands, wetlands, and prairies. Owned and managed by the Illinois Conservation Foundation, the center is a hunting, camping, and birding paradise for area youth. Union volunteers have completed numerous volunteer projects at the site through the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s Work Boots on the Ground program. Read more about that here.
Transcending Monument to Labor— Detroit, Michigan
Rising 63 feet into the sky, the giant steel structure is dedicated to the labor movement in Michigan. Two massive arcs nearly form a circle. Because they’re not connected at the top, the break represents the hard work that still needs to be done.
Jones Point Park and Labor Hall of Honor—Alexandria, Virginia and Washington, DC.
Highlighting the life-changing contributions that a unique group of people made on behalf of the American worker, the Hall was established in 1988 to honor those who have elevated working conditions, wages, and overall quality of life of America’s working families. After visiting the Labor Hall of Honor, grab some bait and wet a line from the fishing pier at Jones Point Park–the result of the USA’s 100th conservation project in nearby Alexandria. With the money raised from the USA’s Capital Area Conservation Dinner and other supporters, volunteers from numerous local labor unions pitched in to restore the pier.
Rosie the Riveter WW II National Historical Park—Richmond, California
Rosie is one of the most recognizable faces of the labor movement, but did you know that more than six million women entered the workforce during World War II? Workers on the home front faced challenges—many of which would lead to changes in working conditions. Learn about the sacrifices workers made at home and the significance and influence of Rosie’s iconic image.
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve—Huntington Beach, California
Look for the California legless lizard or the San Diego gopher snake at this 1,300-acre coastal estuary. Habitats include open water, mudflats, salt marsh, coastal dunes, seabird nesting islands, riparian, and freshwater marsh. With more than 200 avian species spotted, the reserve is popular with birders and photographers. Check out the past work done by USA volunteers and others on trails in the reserve.
Ludlow Memorial—Ludlow, Colorado
Erected by the United Mine Workers of America in 1918, the Ludlow monument remembers the victims of the 1914 Ludlow massacre, in which striking coal miners dodged machine-gun fire for 14 hours at the hands of the Colorado National Guard and hired militia. Numerous people were killed, including two women and 11 children who suffocated in a pit that they had dug under their tent. This deadly clash between labor and capital is a must-stop history lesson for anyone.
Sitdowners Memorial Park and Paddlers Landing—Flint, Michigan
Depicting an actual scene from the historic sit-down strike of 1936-1937 at General Motors, this marble and bronze monument was created by Janice Trimpe and memorializes the “strike heard around the world.” While in the neighborhood, head just a few miles north to Paddlers Landing on the Flint River. Check out the access project that United Auto Workers and USA helped fund through money raised at their conservation dinner.
West Virginia Mine Wars Museum—Matewan, West Virginia
With the largest exhibition of Mine Wars history anywhere in the United States, the museum uses archival photos and video, first-person accounts, and rare artifacts to tell the story of the Mine Wars that began in the early 1900s. In West Virginia, miners tried to organize under the United Mine Workers, but mine owners and coal operators fiercely resisted any attempts at unionization. From 1912 until 1921, the struggles to organize workers in the coal fields sparked a series of violent episodes known as the West Virginia Mine Wars.
PJ DelHomme writes and edits content from his home in western Montana. He runs Crazy Canyon Media and Crazy Canyon Journal.
Check out other articles in our Summer Road Trip Survival Guide blog series.