Talk
Ellen Dawson: Unsung Heroine of Labor
Dr. David Lee McMullen
Tue, Apr 28, 3pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
60 pesos

The Little Orphan of the Strikers By Cliff DuRand

Ellen Dawson is among many unsung heroes and heroines of the labor movement, the first woman ever elected to a national leadership position in an American textile union. Born to working class poverty in Scotland in 1910, she migrated to the US in 1921, where she became a prominent communist labor activist and led a number of textile strikes. Fighting efforts by the government to have her deported, she ultimately rose to the Central Committee of the Communist Party USA.

Now her life and struggles are the subject of a biography by historian David Lee McMullen. Recently retired from teaching at the University of South Florida, Dr. McMullen will discuss his forthcoming book, The Little Orphan of the Strikers: The Radical World of Ellen Dawson, in a talk sponsored by the Center for Global Justice.