Volume 36, number 2!
Rapids Historical Society
October 2014
Grand River Times The Newsletter of the Grand Rapids Historical Society
Inside this issue: Cover Story: October program Letter from our President, page 2
C.O. and Mabel Taylor: Power Couple of the Progressive Era by Doug Taylor and Michael Johnston Co sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
New members and the GRHS website, page 3
Special Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2014: 7:00 p.m.
Books on local history, page 4
The Progressive Era between 1890 and 1920 was a time of both tremendous poverty and fantastic wealth. The middle class was only just emerging, led by a slowly growing labor movement of skilled workers, barbers, machinists, musicians, and the newly emerging college-educated social workers, teachers, journalists, and women from affluent backgrounds. At that time the organized labor movement was about six percent of the U.S. population, similar to what it is again today. The middle class worked to reform politics and business practices, and to end child labor and sweatshops. It was from this national reform movement that C.O. and Mabel Taylor emerged as Grand Rapids’ power couple for women’s rights and labor rights. They were not wealthy. C.O. (who’s real name was Claude) was a business agent for the Barbers and Musicians union, and a talented performer. He constantly took on extra jobs to make ends meet for his family of eleven children, including barbering, working for unions, and running a printing business that printed the union paper he edited. He was also a labor leader, civic booster, newspaper editor, political candidate, sports promoter, founder of Michigan’s Workers‘ Compensation System, negotiator, organizer, and prominent participant in the effort to end the great 1913 miners strike in the U.P.
Storm Warriors - A Forgotten Story, page 6 Happening in History, page 7 Photo Sleuth, page 7
Search: Grand Rapids Historical Society
Next Program: History of the Grand Rapids Police Department. Save the date: November 13, 2014, 7:00 p.m., at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.
at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
Continued on page 5
Grand River Times!
1
