New York City Works

Jobs, Advocacy, Action

An exhibition created by LaborArts for the New York City Central Labor Council

The New York City Labor Council embodies the long history of workers and labor unions that makes the city truly a “union town.” Creating a photo exhibit for the walls of the CLC’s bright new office on 31st Street was an exciting challenge. Even in today’s social media age, it was very difficult to find photos of workers on the job. Photos of rallies and strikes, union meetings and leaders, are plentiful. Our goal was to highlight images of work, and of the underappreciated cultural heritage of our Labor Movement. This exhibit makes the images and captions that are on the walls also available online. We are indebted to the photojournalists who have devoted their lives to chronicling working New Yorkers. Despite our best efforts, we do not know the identity of many of the photographers—contact us at info@laborarts.org with any information.

Acknowledgements

Exhibit curators:
Rachel Bernstein, May Ying Chen, Kate Whalen

Exhibit design:
Dylan Jhirad and Elizabeth Post-Marner

Exhibit images:
ILGWU Archives, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University Member unions of the New York City Central Labor Council.

Many of the images appear in Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, A Pictorial History of Working People in New York City (NYU Press, 2000, 2020)

Get your copy now!

Acknowledgements

Schedule a viewing of the exhibit at 350 West 31st Street by emailing info@NYCCLC.org.

Sign up for the weekly newsletter Union Matters.

Online captions are updated to reflect new information.

Exhibit curators:
Rachel Bernstein, May Ying Chen, Kate Whalen

Exhibit design:
Elizabeth Post-Marner (Spacesmith) and Dylan Jhirad (DBB/Page)

Exhibit images:
ILGWU Archives, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University Member unions of the New York City Central Labor Council.

Many of the images appear in Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, A Pictorial History of Working People in New York City (NYU Press, 2000, 2020)

Get your copy now!

Use code NYUP30 for a 30% discount