Why read Waterfront Workers of New Orleans?

Book cover of Waterfront Workers of New Orleans: Race, Class, and Politics, 1863-1923

Book description

This is an account of the New Orleans dockworkers and their formation of an inter-racial labour movement from 1880 to 1894, and again from 1901 to 1923. After the Civil War, Louisiana had no social group that exercised a clear and sustained cultural and political hegemony over the others, and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Waterfront Workers of New Orleans as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Betsy Wood

Author

New Orleans has always been one of my favorite cities to visit.

Beyond the beignets and parades, did you know this gorgeous city also has a colorful and vibrant labor history that united Black and white waterfront workers in solidarity against wealthy capitalists? I didn’t know until I read Arnesen’s masterful book.

I remember staying up all night to finish it in grad school and being forever shaped by the dynamic stories of immigrants, Black migrants, and their children performing the waterfront labor that kept the cotton, sugar, and other goods flowing at the New Orleans port. I keep this…

From Betsy's list on The best books to make you excited about labor history.