"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." - Emma Goldman

Goldman (1869-1940) died on this day in Toronto, Canada. Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches. She was born in the Russian Empire, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1885, she lived in New York City, where she joined the burgeoning anarchist movement in 1889.

Enjoy this adorable cat stationery found in the archives in Collection /3012 Alice Cook Papers! Alice Cook came to Cornell in 1952 and worked as a well-respected academic and teacher in the ILR School until her retirement in 1972.

Today, November 20th, is the anniversary of the first use of the word “scab” in print in 1816. The term was coined 200+ years ago by the Albany Typographical Society, referring to individuals who cross a picket line while workers strike. Here's some examples of the word "scab" mentioned in our collections.

As you eat your Halloween candy, maybe consider... what was it really like working in a candy factory? And in the 1920s, they didn't know either! This study, published in a pamphlet titled "Behind the Scenes in Candy Factories" was produced by The Consumers' League of New York and set out to uncover the true conditions behind the production process of the food the public consumes. To learn more about the Consumers' League of New York and the Candy White List standards, explore Collection 5307.

Alice Hanson Cook (1903-1998) was a labor educator first, through her work with the YWCA industrial department, Textile Workers Union, and Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union Joint Board in Philadelphia. She continued by contributing to research at Cornell through the ILR Extension working on a project titled "Integrating of Unions and Community", where she was then recruited by ILR to teach Labor History and Union Administration courses. Beyond teaching and research, she supported local Ithaca women's groups such as the Ithaca American Association of University Women, Professional Skills Roster, and Tompkins County Chapter of National Organization for Women.

While she retired in 1973, she was far from done with labor rights activism: she continued on to write several amicus briefs for discrimination cases worldwide, worked for the Ford Foundation on a study about working women worldwide, and published "Women and Trade Unions in Eleven Industrialized Countries", among other publications. She also wrote an autobiography, "A Lifetime of Labor", where she describes her self-proclaimed "patchwork career". Now, a dorm on West Campus is named in her honor, Alice Cook House.

Today’s Found In The Archives is a 1978 exposé on union-busting tactics written by an undercover @1199seiu reporter!

Check out the Kheel Center’s guide to other anti-union campaign materials here:

Are you registered to vote? Here is just one example of many posters put out by different unions' campaign committees and education departments. The one below was, like the others, designed to increase union members' awareness of their right to vote, but also of the necessary steps they need to take before doing so.