Conversations With Maida Springer: A Personal History Of Labor, Race, and International Relations / Edition 1

by Yevette Richards

Overview

Born in Panama in 1910, Maida Springer grew up in Harlem. While still a young girl she learned firsthand of the bleak employment options available to African American females of her time.  After one employer closed his garment shop and ran off with the workers’ wages in the midst of the Depression, Springer joined Local 22 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.

This proved to be the first step in a remarkable advancement through the ranks of labor leadership positions that were typically dominated by white men. Ultimately, Springer became one of the AFL-CIO’s most important envoys to emerging African nations, earning her the nickname "Mama Maida" throughout that continent.

In this brilliantly edited collection of interviews, Yevette Richards allows Springer to tell her story in her own words. The result is a rare glimpse into the private struggles and thoughts behind one of the twentieth century’s most fascinating international labor leaders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822942313
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	08/29/2004
Edition description:	1
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	1
1.	A Panamanian Immigrant in Harlem	19
2.	In the Cauldron of Local 22 Politics	60
3.	Educational Outings, Strikes, and Struggles for Equality	96
4.	The International Affairs Arena	132
5.	African Policy Conflicts within the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions	168
6.	The All-African People's Conference and the International Labor Affiliation Dispute	206
7.	The Cost of the Cold War on AFL-CIO Programs and African Unity	236
8.	Labor and Civil Rights	257
9.	The AFL-CIO and South Africa	283
10.	Reminiscences	306
	Abbreviations	329
	Chronology	331
	Selected Bibliography	335
	Index	345