Final Post

Hello Everyone,

As the semester winds down and everyone treks to the library or coffee shop to partake in the harsh reality that finals are approaching I am going to consider this my final blog.  The main focus of this final post is to take time and reflect on this semester.

To start, I would like to thank everyone in the class for their words of encouragement as we worked on our papers.  I would also like to thank Micalee for dedicating this class to the study of labor history, a subject I knew very little about before entering this class.  After several months of research I am excited to finish my paper that culminates all of my research and ideas.  This class not only taught me labor history, but how to study history through various perspectives.  This class will help me as I pursue my history degree in a way that no other history class has.

Thank you to everyone and good luck on finishing your papers!

Luke

Themes in Labor History

Now that I have outlined a thesis that I think will be more useful to my argument I am trying to fit the books that we read in class into my paper.  The one book that is easiest to incorporate is Lisa Fine's The Story of Reo Joe.  I referenced Ransom Olds in my rough draft but would like to go more in depth in my final paper.  The theme that resonates throughout the book was Olds wish to create a white, male, protestant workforce.  He used the notion of welfare capitalism or corporate paternalism to create this workforce.  Though my research focuses on corporate paternalism the corporation's I focus on did not want the end to result in a specific workforce.  Rather, it was used to combat the radical tendencies of its employees, especially the Finnish community. The other two books are going to be a little more difficult to incorporate but I think as I will look more into it I will be able to fit it in somewhere.

See everyone tomorrow and I look forward to listening to every one's presentations.

Continue Writing

So...I am now starting to go over my paper in detail and make some changes.  Although I did pretty well on my rough draft, there are still a few area's that I need to pay more attention.  One area is the thesis.  My thesis, just as everyone else, is the focal point of the paper.  The problem with mine is that I have to make it a little more direct because right now I don't have a strong argument. This should be a fun night of writing!

Miike Coal Strike

This week I came upon the Miike Coal Strike in my East Asian history class.  This seemed very interesting while reading it in the textbook so I decided to do further research on it.  This was a strike that took place in Japan after the country decided to switch from coal energy to oil.  This particular strike garnered the attention of the whole country as thousands took place in support of the miners.  The theme of this strike also relates quite closely to the themes discussed in our class throughout this semester.

I also wanted to state that everyone who gave their presentations on Thursday did a great job!

See everyone on Tuesday!

Presentation

Along with everyone else I am working on my presentation.  For this I will be using a PowerPoint slide as a visual aid.  I like using a PowerPoint but don't want the presentation to result in me simply reading off of the projector so I will only be putting pictures and simple quotes on each slide.  This, I hope, will be more enjoyable for everyone to listen to and for me to give.

For the structure of my presentation I will present the information that I have researched along with my overall argument. I also want to devote a portion of it to the readings we did in class and how they are related to my specific topic.  This is something that I didn't go into great detail in my paper so hopefully what I come up with for my presentation will prove useful in my paper as well.

See everyone tomorrow!

Paternalism Derived from Necessity

So...now that several midterms are over with in other class I have time to write on my blog and continue writing my paper.  As I have stated in previous postings, I will be focusing on the Corporate Paternalism on Michigan's Iron Ranges.  Now that I have spoken with Micalee I have formed my thesis.  I will be arguing that the emergence of corporate paternalism on the Marquette Iron Range was out of labor necessity rather than charity.  In 1895, three years before William Mather initiated his plan of paternalism over Cleveland-Cliffs employees, the range saw a labor strike that was larger in size than any other seen.  The reason for this large scale strike was the Finnish community that was moving to Marquette during this time.  They were predisposed to the idea of socialism and radical labor reform from their homeland of Finland.  With this mass influx of so called "socialist extremists’", it was necessary to keep the labor force in check to the beliefs of the mining companies and their leaders. The mining companies feared the Finns because they were believed to stir up radical ideas that would rock the employer-employee relationships.

Their fear of Finnish miners can be seen in the Cleveland-Cliffs Annual Agent Report of 1913 when a mining agent stated, "Considerable trouble was experienced with these men as a large percentage of them were Finlanders.  Young Finn's, as a rule, are rank Socialists.  Commencing with March, when there was considerable talk of a possible strike, we started to lay off undesirable men...We still have quite a number of undesirable men and are constantly making efforts to weed them out."

The year in which this was written is crucial to my study.  In this same year, Michigan's Copper Range saw a large labor strike that was orchestrated heavily by the Finn's.  Though the Finn's on the Copper Range were subject to Corporate Paternalism as well, they didn't welcome it as the ones on the Marquette Range did. The Finnish on the Marquette Range were subjected to a corporate paternalism that was directed more heavily into their lives thus creating a sense of "content" among workers.

I also want to dedicate a section of my paper to the idea of race and the Finnish community.  This is in direct relation to the book we are discussing in class.  As I look more into this idea I will post.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and see you on Tuesday!

Labor Radicals, Socialists, and the Finns

As I begin to write my research paper I am feverishly reading several sources about Finns in the Upper Peninsula.  I have already narrowed by thesis down and will argue that corporate paternalism and their stronghold on the community was the cause of little labor reform during the Progressive Era (1900-1920).  When I spoke with the archivist on my trip to Marquette he pointed me into the direction of the Finnish community as the Finns were heavily involved in the Socialist Movement sweeping American labor at this time. The reason for their strong involvement came from their homeland of Finland where the Socialist Movement was the strongest. 

When I was done explaining my argument to Marcus (the archivist) he had some reservations on my thesis thus turning me to the Finnish community.  He brought up the notion that corporate paternalism had been practiced around the country at this time all the while labor reform was seen as well.  Therefore, he has tried to argue that it was the Finns of Marquette County and their opposition to the Socialist Movement that caused a state of 'content' on the Range rather than the Paternalistic policies of the Cleveland-Cliffs Company.  Examples of the Finnish radicals progress towards labor reform can be seen during the Copper Country Strike of 1913. This was the strike in which over 70 people died during a Christmas party and was the topic of a song heard in class today.  The Finns on the Copper Range accepted the Socialist Movement more so than the Finns on the Iron Ranges.  But why is this the case?  I don't really know and as much as I would like to research this, I don't know if I will have enough time to do a comparative study of two communities thus, I will stick solely to the Marquette Range.

My argument will be that the lack of labor reform was due to corporate paternalism and will use the Finnish community as a primary example.  I will have to touch on the Finnish radicals that were striking in the Keewenaw at this time and argue that the Cleveland-Cliffs Company invested heavily in the community, more so than any other company, and saw positive results as the employees did not seek reform and in the few cases they did, they lost. This case of paternalism and the communities acceptance of it can best be seen by the response of a miner wife in which she stated, "we were satisfied with it."  Meaning, they were satisfied with the life they had and the benefits given to them by the mining company. 

Now...back to writing!

Have a great Halloween Weekend and Go State!