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Recent Posts
- New Interview for the GRPS Uncovered podcast
- New GRPS Uncovered podcast for 7/7/2025
- Radical Grand Rapids: Places, Dates, Actions and People
- New book by long time community activist Paul Mayhue: Another Brother in The Struggle
- New Grand Rapids podcast sheds light on the history of the Grand Rapids Public Schools
Category Archives: Anti-Capitalism/Labor
A.J. Muste: radical pacifist, labor organizer and former Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation spent his formative years in Grand Rapids
One never knows how our lives evolve and what impact we will have on social issues and the various movements for radical social justice. Abraham Johannes Muste, also known as AJ, was one of those people who had and continues … Continue reading
Voltairine De Cleyre: Feminist and Anarchist writer lived in Grand Rapids in the 1880s
Emma Goldman once referred to Voltairine De Cleyre as, “The most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced.” Voltairine De Cleyre was born in Michigan in 1866 and was named after the French Enlightenment writer Voltaire. She grew up … Continue reading
10,000 March in Labor Day Parade in 1911
According to the September 4 issue of the Grand Rapids Herald, 10,000 people planned on marching in the 1911 Labor Day Parade. According to the Herald, fifty-two unions participated in the march, which began at 10:00am on Bridge street, making … Continue reading
A Working Class and Capitalist perspective: Revisiting the 1911 Grand Rapids Furniture Workers Strike – Part Two
( A special thanks to the Grand Rapids Public Library and its support for accessing the source documents used for this article.) In Part One, we looked at the role of Catholic Bishop Schrembs, whom the furniture workers on strike … Continue reading
From militant strikes to anti-communist purges: the Grand Rapids labor movement after WWII
In previous articles we have looked at the fight for an 8 hour work day in Grand Rapids, the 1911 Furniture Workers Strike and the impact that the 1936-37 Flint Wildcat Strike had on Grand Rapids organizing efforts. Each of … Continue reading
Artwork highlights a People’s History in Grand Rapids – Print #4 – Hendrik Meijer and Anarchism
This past semester, art students in Brett Colley’s class on printmaking, invited me to come talk about the Grand Rapids People’s History Project. The intent of the class was to have students investigate their own part of a People’s History … Continue reading
The 8 Hour Work Day Battle and May Day in Grand Rapids
It is easy for us in the present to take for granted the 8 hour work day. However, organized labor spent decades fighting this battle all around the world, in the US and right here in Grand Rapids. The Knights … Continue reading
The 1916 City Charter change in Grand Rapids was nothing short of Class Warfare
During the 1911 Furniture Workers Strike and its aftermath, the business community and leading industrialist, began to develop a plan that would significantly alter the way electoral politics was done in Grand Rapids. The 1911 Furniture Workers Strike revealed several … Continue reading
Grand Rapids People's History Project 