From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States

by Priscilla Murolo and A. B. Chitty

A Book Review by Amy Courson-Brock

March 2009

When I read the title, From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States, I was excited to read it. I am very interested in Labor and Union, but don't really have a good grasp on the history. I looked to this book to guide me through the time line and to direct me through a broad range of subject matter due to the book's all inclusiveness. I have always wondered how the basic premise for the work week got started, where it came from, and who shaped it. When did we acquire those basic everyday rights that we have come to expect in this day and age? Who fought those battles and won them for us? I wanted to know the history, but also the human side to this story that has given us organized labor.

As I read this book, it was there. From the beginning up to 2001 and George W. Bush. I found the walk through this book very enlightening and it gave me a better overall view of the evolution of organized labor. It brought to light the fights and set backs in labor as well as the time period they took place, allowing for a better perspective. It brought to life the human side when it included women, immigrants, minorities, and all the other people that withstood the horrors to fight for their rights another day. It also told of the ones that were lost in the fights along the way, but never forgotten in the struggle for all to have fair and equal working rights. It doesn't attempt to gloss over details. The details are bared for all to see, but more importantly for all to learn from and take with them as they pass through this part of what will soon be the next segment in the time line of the history for working peoples.

The authors wanted to update the history of American Labor. In their foreword they gave three reasons they felt it necessary to write this book. The first reason was, "-no comprehensive survey of US labor history for the general reader had appeared in more than a decade." (p. xi) , the second reason was, "-the labor movement itself had changed-" (p. xi), and the final reason came to them as they started their research and writing which was, "Even a casual look at American history reveals how much of what we learn and teach in school is just not true." (p.xii)

Their approach was easy to follow. In the forward, the authors laid out the two reasons that they felt the writing of this book was necessary. As they tell you about these two reasons, they relate the fact that as they wrote, the third reason emerged as a very important part of the book and so must be included. Next came the list of illustrations and the list of abbreviations. Then came the time line of Labor History by chapter with subheadings. The authors wrote the book along this time line starting in Colonial America and continuing to today including an epilogue. The time line was a very easy way to follow this book. The book kept to each time period per chapter with subheadings. This made it easy to see the transition from one period to the next. It also allowed the reader to see the markings of time within the labor experience.

The authors did what they set out to do. They wrote a book that followed their three reasons for doing so. They stayed true to the time line and included as much documentation and explanation as they could. The parameters they were working within were set by the publishing company and of course the ability to write a book that was reader and user friendly and wasn't too overwhelming.

The authors use a wide variety of sources. They acknowledge their sources, but in a much more general way like saying that "many headlines read" and then putting the headlines in all capitals in bold print. The authors feel this is a gathering of research and is just being restated in a very simple, time line form.

They use footnotes to make clarifying points, but don't use them to document their sources.

There is no bibliography to be found. However, they explain this point in the foreword when they say, (we) "incorporate as much recent research, historiography, and events as we could. Almost none of the material comes from our own research. We found an abundance of materials in fact, too much." (p. xii) This explains that they can't include them all because of the number of years, activities, and changes that this book covers. The authors explain that no new books on the general history of labor had been written in the past ten years. "Recent scholarship had added new dimensions and many details to the story of working people in America. It was past time to compile these insights into a new general history. (p. xi) Therefore, they took on the task of reading, compiling data, and putting it into a general history time line of labor.

This book is set up chronologically. That is the best method to allow the reader to see the movement of Labor history and allow the reader some consistency. Had the authors just picked different parts of history and placed them in the book at random, this book would have been very difficult to follow, understand, and connect the movement of Labor. Therefore, the authors used the most effective organization of the book as they possibly could to allow the reader to see the evolution take place.

At the beginning, rather than the ending, the book gives the reader a list of abbreviations. This is a helpful placement in the book because of so many acronyms used in labor. Following the list of abbreviations in the table of contents are 12 chapters. Each chapter has its subheadings listed along with the page numbers. This would allow the general reader to see what is included in each chapter or time period, but also allows easy location for information used in research. The book is user friendly for the general reader or researchers.

Primary sources are quoted, but to use an entire piece of work would have been too much to add to the book. The fact that it was mentioned would allow the reader to explore its contents at a later time or to stop reading the book, research the source, and then return to the book.

This book has two authors and an illustrator. The first listed author is Priscilla Murolo. She is a teacher of women's history and labor history at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

The second author listed is A. B. Chitty. I didn't have any information on this author. I started searching and it became very frustrating. I searched Yahoo, Google, Wikipedia, and Amazon. I couldn't find information on this person. A. B. Chitty is listed only as an author. Since I can't find any more information than that, I still don't know what else this person has done. In fact, I don't even know if it is a man or woman.

Joe Sacco is the illustrator he was born in Malta and has lived several places in the world, but mostly in America. He is a very celebrated American comics artist and journalist.

I feel that the authors have done a great job in presenting no biases for this book. Rather, they have tried to gather the facts and lay in them out in a realistic fashion so that the reader can delve into one specific chapter or can read the entire book for an overall gathering of data.

The first three chapters of this book deal with Colonial America and have Boston interwoven throughout.

Even though I don't teach Labor History, this book is filled with historical information on the Colonies, Boston, Slavery, and other sections of history that I do teach. So, I can use it as a reference book to add more facts for my students, as well as my own interest and background for teaching.

I would certainly recommend this book to others. I thought it was interesting, but also did what it set out to do. It brought an extensive amount of information into time line form which made it easier to follow. I think that the general reader as well as a researcher would find this book beneficial.