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The Voice with the Smile Will be Gone for Awhile
On Wednesday, November 8, 2023 the Wayne Public Library’s Lunchbox Learning Series will feature “The Voice with the Smile will be Gone for Awhile” presented by Evelyn M. Hershey, Education Director, American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark. This program will take place in the Meeting Room of the library. This is a free program. Doors open at 12:00 pm. The program itself runs from 12:30 pm. to 1:30 pm. The Wayne Public Library is located at 461 Valley Road in Wayne, NJ and is a barrier free facility.
This talk will highlight the 1947 Strike of Telephone Workers against AT&T with special attention to the Women Telephone Workers of New Jersey.
When the National Federation of Telephone Workers’ union struck the Bell System on April 7, 1947 in the nationwide walkout in the telephone industry, women were fully two thirds (230,000) of the 345,000 strikers. For the first time in almost sixty years, male supervisors handled switchboards while women operators walked picket lines with telephone repairmen and linemen. In New Jersey, the twelve thousand women of the Newark-based switchboard operators’ union and two thousand accounting workers stood up to a state law banning utility strikes. This program will explore the history of this labor union dispute and its outcomes.
To come in person, please register on the Wayne Public Library Calendar by clicking on the date of the program and scrolling down to the title. The program is also available over Zoom. The Zoom Link is highlighted and is located on the calendar at the end of the program description.
This program is sponsored by The Wayne Public Library and The Friends of the Wayne Public Library. The Friends will be serving beverages and light refreshments. This program is funded by the Passaic County Cultural & Heritage Council’s County History Partnership Program which is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of the Department of the State. For more information, please contact Deborah Rosenblatt at (973) 694-4272 x5408 or [email protected].
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2007705-0
