Dr. Jody Baxter Noll recounts the 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike, in which 27,000 teachers across the state, amidst a shift in Florida politics toward a pro-business and suburban “Sunshine conservatism” reluctant to raise taxes for public education, submitted their resignations to gain collective bargaining rights and improved school funding. Noll is a Lecturer in the History Department at Georgia State University and author of The 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight against Sunshine State Conservatism.

Related Resources:
The 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight against Sunshine State Conservatism

Related Collections:
AFT Office of the President Records (LR001553)
AFT President’s Office: Albert Shanker Records (LR001553_Shanker)
AFT Southern Regional Office Records (LR001863)
Howard Hursey Papers (LP2047)

Episode Credits
Interviewee: Jody Baxter Noll
Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English
Music: Bart Bealmear

Karen Horting, Executive Director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers, talks about SWE’s archives at the Reuther Library and shares how the 75-year-old organization leverages its history to advocate for the inclusion of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Related Resources:
Society of Women Engineers 75th Anniversary
SWE Archives Virtual Tour [Part 1]
SWE Archives Virtual Tour [Part 2]

Related Collections:
Society of Women Engineers Records (LR001539)
Society of Women Engineers Publications (LR002487)

Episode Credits
Interviewee: Karen Horting
Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English
Music: Bart Bealmear

Dr. Martin Hershock recounts the violent three-day strike against General Motors supplier Federal Screw Works in 1938, when women from Detroit’s Polish community led the fight to preserve both their recently-recognized union and their neighborhood. Hershock is a Professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and author of the article, “Seems to Me You Have Plenty of Nerve”: Polish American Women, Detroit’s Federal Screw Works Strike of 1938, and the Fate of the UAW.”

Related Resources:
“Seems to Me You Have Plenty of Nerve”: Polish American Women, Detroit’s Federal Screw Works Strike of 1938, and the Fate of the UAW.”

Related Collections:
Peter H. Amann Papers (UP001229)
Joe Brown Papers (LP000047)
Stanley and Margaret Collingwood Nowak Papers (LP000003)
UAW President’s Office: Walter P. Reuther Records (LR000261)
Virtual Motor City / Detroit News Photograph Collection

Episode Credits
Interviewee: Martin Hershock
Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English
Music: Bart Bealmear