Debra E. Bernhardt

Activist, Archivist, Historian

Debra E. Bernhardt was a labor historian dedicated to documenting the undocumented history of workers in New York. She saw the potential of Labor Arts to further that mission. Her life ended far too soon (Debra died of cancer in March), leaving an extraordinary vision to be fulfilled. We dedicate this Labor Arts website to Debra, as one of the many ways that her work will be carried forward.

(Photograph by Jane Latour, 1995)

As head of the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University Debra built an extensive collection of documents, photographs, oral histories and artifacts about working people. The collections are used by researchers from around the world, by scholars and activists alike. In 1998 Debra spearheaded a successful campaign to have the National Park Service declare Union Square Park a National Landmark. What is now recognized as the first Labor Day parade occurred on that site on September 5, 1882. Debra was also the guiding spirit behind a traveling photographic and oral history exhibition, "100 Years of Labor in New York City," which opened at City Hall in 1998. It subsequently made the rounds of union halls and other sites throughout the state. She is the co-author, with Rachel Bernstein, of the book Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: A Pictorial History of Working People in New York City, published by the NYU Press in 2000, and of the web exhibit of the same name included on the Labor Arts exhibits page.

For more information about Debra's work contact the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at (212) 998-2630 or 998-2637.

Following Debra's wishes, her family requests that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Debra E. Bernhardt Fund for the Wagner Labor Archives. They can be sent to Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012.