Introduction:
The IWW will be celebrating its first complete century in
2005.
Our Centenary Will Feature:
- A List of events celebrating our first 100 years;
- Calls for additional celebratory events;
- A 100th Anniversary Edition of the IWW's Little Red Songbook;
- A new book on IWW history, written by IWW members called The IWW's First 100 Years;
- Other merchandise celebrating the IWW's first century of existence;
- Updated collections of historical IWW material;
- Links to other sites discussing the IWW's centenary;
- and more . . .
In celebration of our Centenary, we feature the Minutes of the IWW's Founding Convention.
Additionally, be sure to visit the IWW Chronology page for a brief history of the IWW.
Check out Paul Buhle's IWW Centennial Tour. Is it coming to your area? Do you want to organize a show in your area? For more information on the tour, it's schedule, and how to host a showing in your town go to wobblyshow.org.
IWW Centenary Contact Information:
- IWW Centenary Coordinator - Nathaniel Miller
- E-mail - centenary@iww.org
- Phone - 215-222-1905
- Postal mail - PO Box 13476, Philadelphia, PA 19101, USA
IWW Members - Purchase $5.00 Assessment Stamps from the Detroit IWW (pictured at right)
- Contact - Ellen Chase
- Mail - 8916 Royce Drive, Sterling Heights, MI 48313;
- eljoyce@hotmail.com
Writings About the Centenary:
- March 3, 2005 - One Shipyard Workers Perspective, by Arthur J. Miller.
1) Contact Centenary Coordinator (centenary@iww.org/
215-222-1905) and let them know what you are thinking about and what help
GHQ can provide. Remember that the Centenary Coordinator and GHQ are
there to help you all along the way!
2) Start talking to other Wobs in your area and together think about what kind of event you want to organize. For example do you want to put together something around one of our traveling exhibits (we will need host sites); do you want put together a film showing, a party, a concert, or a speaker? Or do you have something else in mind? If you are in a Branch or IU form a Centenary Committee.
3) Examine the resources you have at your disposal. Are there any local radical musicians or artists you have a relationship with? Do any Wobbly historians live in your area? (GHQ can help locate some of these people if you need) What type of space do you have access to for an event? How much time and energy can you and other Wobs devote to the event? Are you in a location that will already have Centenary-related stuff going on that you can plug into (for example some of the traveling exhibits or conferences that are already scheduled)? What kind of fundraising would you need to do for the event you have in mind? Compile a list of those resources and update it frequently!
4) Start making the contacts. Are the musicians you have in
mind available for the dates you are thinking about? Is the space you
have in mind available. Will it be too big/too small for the event you
have in mind? You get the idea. Confirm the location and the
speakers/performers as early as possible. If your event is going to have
more than one speaker/performer make sure they know what the others are
speaking about/doing.
5) Once you know the type of event you are planning, have confirmed the necessary location, and have the speakers/artists/performers locked in you are ready to go. Now you just need to let folks know about it!
6) Publicize, publicize, publicize!! Once again make sure that GHQ is kept up-to-date with your plans so that information can be published in the GOB, the Industrial Worker, on the Centenary website, and any other union-wide sources. Think of creative ways to publicize the event locally. Fliers of course, ads in local newspapers, labor newspapers, the radical press, etc.
6) Take photos to document the event!
7) If possible write a short debriefing about the success and failures of the event. This will help other Wobs who are planning things know what works.
