History -- in particular the momentous struggle that took place in Minneapolis in 1934 -- took center stage at the "One Day in July" festival Saturday.

The festival was held from 2 to 10 p.m. at the intersection of 3rd Street N. and 6th Avenue N., a block south of Washington Ave. in the Warehouse District -? the site where police opened fire on unarmed strikers in 1934. The street festival featured exhibits, food and musical performances.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Teamsters strike that spurred union organizing throughout Minneapolis and, together with struggles in Ohio and Washington State, prompted passage of the National Labor Relations Act to guarantee collective bargaining rights for workers.

David Sundeen and Linda K. Leighton, grandchildren of strike leader V.R. Dunne, spoke briefly at the festival. Their mother, Jeanette Dunne, is V.R.?s daughter. Their grandfather was alive until they were in their 20s, they said, so they heard plenty of stories of labor?s battles, they said. ?I?m really ecstatic that people are paying attention 70 years later,? Sundeen said. ?I feel people get it that maybe it is about class.? Leighton, a member of SEIU Local 284, is a paraprofessional in the Hopkins school district.
Union Advocate photo
The crowd at the festival viewed newspapers from 1934 that carried news of the momentous strike.
Photos by John See
?
Michael O?Brien, bass player for the Clay Moore Trio, was among musicians who performed throughout the festival.
Union Advocate photo
Exhibits dramatized some of the issues for workers yesterday and today.
Photo by John See ?
Singer and songwriter Paul Metsa entertained the crowd.
Photo by John See
<table width="35%" border="0" align="center" Several unions set up tables to talk to people attending the festival. Photo by John See
Siobhan Mulloy, 11, and her cousins, Akiel England, 10, and Liuiya England, 5, write slogans on a sidewalk at the festival. Siobhan, daughter of Finn Mulloy of UAW Local 879, wrote: ?Fight back, unionize!?
Union Advocate photo
Samantha Smart, of the group Speak Out Sisters, was one of more than a dozen volunteers who told the history of the 1934 strikes by reading from diaries, letters and other first-person accounts of participants on all sides of the dispute.
Union Advocate photo
ASFCME Local 3800 member Jeff Pilacinski sold t-shirts featuring the emblems of the "Wobblies," the Industrial Workers of the World.
Photo by John See

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History takes center stage at ‘One Day in July’

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History — in particular the momentous struggle that took place in Minneapolis in 1934 — took center stage at the “One Day in July” festival Saturday.

The festival was held from 2 to 10 p.m. at the intersection of 3rd Street N. and 6th Avenue N., a block south of Washington Ave. in the Warehouse District -? the site where police opened fire on unarmed strikers in 1934. The street festival featured exhibits, food and musical performances.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Teamsters strike that spurred union organizing throughout Minneapolis and, together with struggles in Ohio and Washington State, prompted passage of the National Labor Relations Act to guarantee collective bargaining rights for workers.

David Sundeen and Linda K. Leighton, grandchildren of strike leader V.R. Dunne, spoke briefly at the festival. Their mother, Jeanette Dunne, is V.R.?s daughter. Their grandfather was alive until they were in their 20s, they said, so they heard plenty of stories of labor?s battles, they said. ?I?m really ecstatic that people are paying attention 70 years later,? Sundeen said. ?I feel people get it that maybe it is about class.? Leighton, a member of SEIU Local 284, is a paraprofessional in the Hopkins school district.
Union Advocate photo
The crowd at the festival viewed newspapers from 1934 that carried news of the momentous strike.
Photos by John See
?
Michael O?Brien, bass player for the Clay Moore Trio, was among musicians who performed throughout the festival.
Union Advocate photo
Exhibits dramatized some of the issues for workers yesterday and today.
Photo by John See ?
Singer and songwriter Paul Metsa entertained the crowd.
Photo by John See

<table width="35%" border="0" align="center"

Several unions set up tables to talk to people attending the festival. Photo by John See
Siobhan Mulloy, 11, and her cousins, Akiel England, 10, and Liuiya England, 5, write slogans on a sidewalk at the festival. Siobhan, daughter of Finn Mulloy of UAW Local 879, wrote: ?Fight back, unionize!?
Union Advocate photo
Samantha Smart, of the group Speak Out Sisters, was one of more than a dozen volunteers who told the history of the 1934 strikes by reading from diaries, letters and other first-person accounts of participants on all sides of the dispute.
Union Advocate photo
ASFCME Local 3800 member Jeff Pilacinski sold t-shirts featuring the emblems of the “Wobblies,” the Industrial Workers of the World.
Photo by John See
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