John Fabian Witt recounts how in the 1920s and 1930s Charles Garland donated his million-dollar inheritance to the American Fund for Public Service, or Garland Fund, to support progressive causes and organizations he believed could challenge inequality and reshape capitalism and democracy in America.

Dr. Witt is a Professor of History and the Allen H. Duffy Class of 1960 Professor of Law at Yale University and author of The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America.

Related Resources:
The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America

Related Collections:
Brookwood Labor College Records (LR000567_BLC)
John and Phyllis Collier Papers (LP000141)
Richard W. and Constance Cowen Papers (LP000924)
Henry Richardson Linville Papers (LP000373)
UAW President’s Office: Walter P. Reuther Records (LR000261)

Episode Credits
Interviewee: John Fabian Witt
Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English
Music: Bart Bealmear

Dr. Jody Baxter Noll recounts the 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike, in which 27,000 teachers across the state, amidst a shift in Florida politics toward a pro-business and suburban “Sunshine conservatism” reluctant to raise taxes for public education, submitted their resignations to gain collective bargaining rights and improved school funding. Noll is a Lecturer in the History Department at Georgia State University and author of The 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight against Sunshine State Conservatism.

Related Resources:
The 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight against Sunshine State Conservatism

Related Collections:
AFT Office of the President Records (LR001553)
AFT President’s Office: Albert Shanker Records (LR001553_Shanker)
AFT Southern Regional Office Records (LR001863)
Howard Hursey Papers (LP2047)

Episode Credits
Interviewee: Jody Baxter Noll
Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English
Music: Bart Bealmear

Karen Horting, Executive Director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers, talks about SWE’s archives at the Reuther Library and shares how the 75-year-old organization leverages its history to advocate for the inclusion of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Related Resources:
Society of Women Engineers 75th Anniversary
SWE Archives Virtual Tour [Part 1]
SWE Archives Virtual Tour [Part 2]

Related Collections:
Society of Women Engineers Records (LR001539)
Society of Women Engineers Publications (LR002487)

Episode Credits
Interviewee: Karen Horting
Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English
Music: Bart Bealmear