History After Hours: Film and Talk
Who Were The Wobblies?
Labor Activism in the Gilded Age
Friday, September 18 | 5–7pm
Doors and Bar: 5pm
Film and Talk: 5:30pm

This program highlights the story of the Industrial Workers of the World (the “Wobblies”) and their seismic role in labor history. The Wobblies solicited new union members among the most discriminated-against groups of the workforce: unskilled workers, non-whites, immigrants, women, and migrant workers who were barred from the American Federation of Labor, which tended to support white, male, skilled workers. The I.W.W. hoped to create "one big union" through which workers would own the means of production and distribution. Historian Hamish Lutris and author/activist Steve Thornton will lead the discussion following the screening of The Wobblies.

History After Hours: Film and Talk
The Civilian Conservation Corps: Putting Depression-Era Men to Work
Friday, October 16 | 5–7pm
Doors and Bar: 5pm
Film and Talk: 5:30pm

This program explores the work of the national Civilian Conservation Corps, which operated twenty-one camps across Connecticut towns, state parks, and forests during the Great Depression. Historian Hamish Lutris and author Marty Podskoch will lead a lecture, film screening, and Q&A, highlighting how government initiatives transformed both the landscape and the livelihoods of workers. The following morning Hamish will lead a family-friendly hike in People’s State Forest to view nearby examples of CCC workmanship firsthand (details forthcoming).

Part of American Mural Project's America250 programming, supported by CT Humanities and America250 | Connecticut Affiliate.