February 23

Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” following a frigid trip -- partially by hitchhiking, partially by rail -- from California to Manhattan. The Great Depression was still raging. Guthrie had heard Kate Smith’s recording of “God Bless America” and resolved to himself: “We can’t just bless America, we’ve got to change it” – 1940 Also on this date: W.E.B. DuBois, educator and civil rights activist, born; National Marine Engineers Assn. formed; Journeyman Bakers National Union chartered by American Federation of Labor; San Francisco Examiner began publishing articles on the menace of Japanese laborers; Association of Flight Attendants granted a charter by the AFL-CIO; San Francisco’s minimum wage rises to $8.50… Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” following a frigid trip -- partially by hitchhiking, partially by rail -- from California to Manhattan. The Great Depression was still raging. Guthrie had heard Kate Smith’s recording of “God Bless America” and resolved to himself: “We can’t just bless America, we’ve got to change it” – 1940
Also on this date: W.E.B. DuBois, educator and civil rights activist, born. National Marine Engineers Assn. formed. Journeyman Bakers National Union chartered by American Federation of Labor; San Francisco Examiner began publishing articles on the menace of Japanese laborers. Association of Flight Attendants granted a charter by the AFL-CIO. San Francisco’s minimum wage rises to $8.50.More info & ammo for unionists is availableonline from Union Communication Services.

http://www.unionist.com/