Labor Struggles that Helped Spark the Civil Rights Movement

Labor Day 2011

Labor Struggles that Helped Spark the Civil Rights Movement

Forgotten Industrial and Labor History of Mare Island and Port Chicago

An illustrated talk by Michael Daly

The now partially abandoned naval yards at Mare Island and Port Chicago were once abuzz with the toil of some 50,000 workers building ships and supplying the Pacific Front during World War II. On July 17, 1944 some 5000 tons of munitions exploded in Port Chicago, killing 320 sailors, mostly African Americans, as they were loading the merchant marine ship SS E. A. Bryan. Following the worst home-front disaster of the war and fearing for their lives, 258 African American sailors refused to load munitions. The incident was a significant factor in initiating the Civil Rights Movement.

Michael Daly, who formerly worked in the structural steel industry, is a labor historian, a planner for LaborFest, and a citizen activist for the conversion of abandoned military and industrial installations to beneficial civilian use.

Donation: $5-10 (no one turned away)