In 1907, a new college opened in Duluth. The Work People’s College taught its working-class students about unions and how to organize against the powerful industries that ruled Minnesota’s vast Iron Range.
—–Editor: Britt Aamodt Producer: Britt Aamodt Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
MN90 Intro: Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.
Britt Aamodt: By the early 20th century, vast fortunes were being made from the iron deposits on Minnesota's Iron Range. Chester Congdon, a lawyer for the Oliver Mining Company, built his extravagant Glensheen Mansion in Duluth from his share of the wealth. He was sitting pretty.
Not so were miners who busted the rock out of the earth, sometimes losing limbs, sometimes lives, so cities of steel could rise in Chicago and out on the East Coast. They'd gone on strike in 1907. But the owners, with their deep pockets, had hired strikebreakers. It seemed the working people had going for them were their numbers. But soon there was a place to go to learn how to use those numbers to create change. That same year, 1907, the Work People's College began in Duluth. It offered lectures on socialism, the English language and unions—what they were and how they worked.
In 1916, the now organized miners went on strike again. They didn't get all their demands. But they got safter work conditions and that was a move in the right direction.
MN90 Outro: MN90 is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at mn90.org.