CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–September 4, 2014. Roosevelt University will mark the life and accomplishments of the late Chicago labor organizer Leslie Fray Orear with a presentation and video testimonials beginning at 5 p.m. Sept. 9 in the University’s 10th floor library, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.
An organizer for United Packinghouse Workers of America and co-founder and president emeritus of the Illinois Labor History Society, Orear died in June at the age of 103. A resident of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, Orear organized one of the nation’s most successful unions.
He also was responsible for keeping labor history alive with a well-known memorial to Chicago’s Haymarket workers. A collection related to the 19th Century labor struggle as well as significant historical books, journals, documents and photos related to Chicago’s rich labor history have been donated by the Illinois Labor History Society to the University’s Murray-Green library. Named for the founders of the AFL and CIO unions, the Murray Green library is fast becoming the foremost archive for Chicago labor history.
“We will be remembering Les Orear with a program in words, song and images that will look at a century of working-class struggles and history in Chicago,” said Erik Gellman, a Roosevelt University labor historian and organizer of the event.
Free and open to the public, “The Life and Times of Les Orear: A Presentation in Words, Song and Images of 103 Years of Working-Class Struggle and History” begins at 5 p.m. with a reception and invitation to friends and colleagues of the late Orear to provide video testimonials remembering the labor leader and his many contributions. A slide-show presentation depicting the times Orear lived through in Chicago’s stockyards and meat-packing industry begins at 6 p.m., with music and song provided by Chicago folksinger Bucky Halker.
For more information, contact Erik Gellman at [email protected].
Source: roosevelt.edu
