Historic Happenings Blog

American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark Sponsors Annual Sol Stetin Golf Open Haledon, New Jersey –  The American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark will sponsor its Annual Sol Stetin Golf Tournament on Thursday, June 25th, 2020 at the Pebble Creek Golf Club in Colts Neck, New Jersey. A shotgun start will be at 12:00 PM. Lunch and dinner will be served. The Golf Tournament is named in honor of a founder of the Museum, Sol Stetin. Mr. Stetin was the former president of the Textile Workers’ Union of America. The entrance fee for the event includes a golf cart, a full day of golf, lunch, dinner, and terrific Pro Shop prizes. Hole Sponsors are welcome to advertise their company or organization’s name for a nominal fee. Reserve early! The event is quite popular. The deadline for registration or sponsorship is June 15, 2020. For further information, please visit the Museum’s website   www.labormuseum.net...

Educational Projects and Virtual Tours for Families available at the American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark’s website  www.labormuseum.net Haledon, New Jersey --   Educational projects and virtual Museum tours are available on the American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark website,  www.labormuseum.net  “Home-School Projects” page:  https://labormuseum.net/?p=home-school-projects       Museum trustees, staff, and volunteers understand that social distancing and quarantine can be difficult for children and adults. The Museum’s “Home-School Projects” ( https://labormuseum.net/?p=home-school-projects ) menu of online activities is designed to provide families with the opportunity to learn at home about the history and contemporary issues of workers, workplaces and the labor movement. Virtual tours, labor arts projects’ instructions, 1913 Paterson Silk Silk Strike role-playing cards, immigrant families’ r...

Union Made: Fashioning America in the 20th Century January 15, 2020 - April 25, 2020 | 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Changing Exhibits The Museum proudly opens the exhibit   Union Made:  Fashioning America in the 20th Century   by Denise Green, Ph.D., and Patrizia Sione, Ph.D. on Wednesday, January 15th, 2020.  The exhibit features union-made garments, union memorabilia and multi-media to highlight the role unions played to improve working conditions and safety standards, wages and benefits and promotion of the U.S. fashion industry during the 20th century. Union Made:  Fashioning America in the 20th Century  is a collaboration between the Kheel Center and Cornell Costume and Textile Collection at Cornell University to celebrate 20th-century fashion trends alongside the history of organized labor and union labeling efforts in the United States. Dr. Denise Green is an assistant professor of fiber science and apparel design and director of the Cornell Costume and Texti...

Celebrate  International Women's Day 2020  and the  Centennial of Women's Suffrage  at the Museum on Sunday, March 8th, 2020 at 1PM-3PM.  Listen to distinguished speakers, join a short women's empowerment march, receive a flower in appreciation, and view exhibits about union women and women's suffrage as we raise awareness, celebrate achievement and rally for change to help forge a more gender-equal world and show our commitment to being #Eachforequal. This celebration is part of New Jersey's Nineteenth Amendment Centennial Initiative, which commemorates the passage of the Constitutional amendment which granted women across the country the legal right to vote.  While this parade honors women's solidarity, activism, and achievements, it also acknowledges the inequities and challenges New Jersey women of all backgrounds have faced and continue to confront from 1920 to the present day. March 8th is a significant day because it is a global day of celebrating th...

May 7 to May 30 -- Passaic County Free Labor Arts Classes for Children, March 7th - May 30th Students grades 3-5 are invited to register and attend classes designed to introduce them to the history and contemporary issues of working people and immigrants through the visual and performing arts. Students are provided with the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities by which they are encouraged to develop their understanding and appreciation of an immigrant worker's home, lifestyle and workplace as a means of comparison to the same issues today. The classes are conducted at the Museum on Saturdays 11:30AM - 1PM.  Pre-registration is required . It is not necessary to attend every class. Classes begin on March 7th and end on May 30th, 2020. (Class will not be held on May 16th.) The Saturday Labor Arts Classes are funded, in part, by a generous grant from the Puffin Foundation. For further information and a registration form, please call the Museum at (973) ...

United We Bargain, Divided We Beg exhibit by Zach Horn   The Museum proudly opens the exhibit  United We Bargain, Divided We Beg  by Zach Horn on Sunday, September 1st, 2019 at 1PM.   United We Bargain, Divided We Beg  is an exhibition of contemporary, heroic-scale portraiture of labor union workers.  The workers are presented in a series of drawings created specifically to fill the exhibit spaces at the Museum.  Each drawing highlights a different labor union and features individual and group portraits that represent the diversity and strength of the Labor Movement. The general public is invited to an exhibit reception on Saturday, October 19th, 2019 at 1PM during which Mr. Horn will talk about  United We Bargain, Divided We Beg . Zach Horn, who is a Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston and at Boston University, notes that he "comes from a long-line of proud union members."  "In many ways," he states, "they are our unsung ...

Saturday, October 19 – Passaic County The American Labor Museum/Botto House invites you to an  exhibit reception with Zach Horn , October 19th at 1PM     On Saturday, October 19th at 1PM, the museum proudly welcomes the general public to an exhibit reception with artist Zach Horn. Mr. Horn will offer a tour of his exhibit United We Bargain, Divided We Beg and will answer questions. The exhibit features contemporary, heroic-scale portraiture pf labor union workers that were specifically created by Mr. Horn for the exhibit space at the museum.      Light refreshments will be served, and the museum store will be open for browsing and shopping. Zach Horn is a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston and at Boston University. In many ways, Zach Horn observes, union members are our unsung heroes. United We Bargain, Divided We Beg will be on view at the Museum through Dec. 31st, 2019. Presentation by Jonathan Lurie, Oct. 19 at 2PM at ...

Sunday, September 1 -- Passaic County The Annual Labor Day Parade, co-sponsored by the American Labor Museum/Botto House Natonal Landmark, the Borough of Haledon, and the City of Paterson, takes place on Sunday.  Step-off is at 1:30 pm at the Botto House in Haledon. The parade finishes at the Great Falls Historic District in the City of Paterson. On Sunday, the Museum will be open to visitors, the Museum Store will be open to the public before the parade step-off. All community organizations, unions, businesses, cultural groups, and individuals interested in joining this historic march can contact the Museum at 973-595-7953 or by e-mail  labormuseum@aol.com  or visit the Museum's website  www.labormuseum.net . It was on June 28th, 1894 that President Grover Cleveland (a native of Caldwell, NJ) signed the bill that made Labor Day a legal national holiday. In that same year, on Monday, September 3, 1894, the first official holiday was celebrated and every first Monday ...

Reserve now for June 20 golf event The American Labor Museum will sponsor its  Annual Sol Stetin Golf Tournament on Thursday, June 20th, 2019 at the Pebble Creek Golf Club in Colts Neck, New Jersey.  A shotgun start will be at 12PM. Lunch and dinner will be served. Hole Sponsors are welcome to advertise. Reserve early by visiting  www.labormuseum.net   or please call (973) 595-7953.

Saturday, April 27 – Passaic County Save the date: The general public is invited to the  American Labor Museum's annual Workers' Memorial Day observance on Saturday, April 27th, 2019 at 1:00 p.m.  In addition to the traditional Candlelight vigil, Irwin Nack, Associate Professor of History (retired) at William Paterson University, will discuss "The Trump Program verses a Pro-Labor Agenda." American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark, 83 Norwood Street, Haledon, NJ 07508

Saturday, April 13 – Passaic County ** "Working Class New York" exhibit by Dakota Santiago     “Working Class New York,” an exhibit of black-and-white contemporary photography by Dakota Santiago, is currently on view at the American Labor Museum . As a photographer, Mr. Santiago focuses his work on social issues of the New York metro area. In Working Class New York, he uses the power of the camera lens to document the blue-collar landscape in union-strong New York City.  On Saturday, April 13th, 2019 at 3PM the general public is cordially invited to an exhibit reception with Dakota Santiago who will discuss his work. Light refreshments will be served.  This program is made possible in part by a grant administered by the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council from funds granted by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. For further information, please call the Museum at 973-595-7953.     American Labor Museum/B...

February 27, 2019  |  9:30 am - 2:30 pm  |  Annual Special Events "Peoples History: America's Untold Stories" The Museum cordially invites educators and the general public to attend a workshop entitled  People's History:  America's Untold Stories  to be held on Wednesday, February 27th, 2019.  Educators who attend will receive a Professional Development Certificate.   The  People's History:  America's Untold Stories  workshop will be held at the Museum from 9:30AM-2:30PM, with a luncheon served at midday.  Workshop plans includes a presentation entitled "Women Workers and Ladies Garments" about the immigrant women of the International Ladies Garment Workers's Union (ILGWU) by Keith Danish, Esq., an educator, lecturer and labor historian and "Women in Jazz" by Dr. Louis A. Iozzi, scholar, educator, musician and author. The registration fee of $25. for Museum members provides for admittance for the full day program, whi...

Waterfront Longshoremen: Original Photography  exhibit   by Frank Silva at the American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark Haledon, NJ -  The American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark located in Haledon, New Jersey proudly opens the exhibit  Waterfront Longshoremen: Original Photography  by Frank Silva on Sunday, September 2 nd , 2018 at 1PM.             Waterfront Longshoremen: Original Photography  is an exhibit of black-and-white prints that focus on San Francisco and Oakland, California waterfront workers during the decade 1978 to 1988, a time marked by the rapid change to containerization.             Frank Silva took up photography as a high school student. After serving in the US Navy, he began working on the Oakland waterfront in 1965. He joined the  Waterfront Writers and Artists , a grou...