05/28/2026
Join the Labor Archives Section (LAS) for a virtual brown bag on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, from 2:00–3:00 PM ET (11:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM MT / 1:00 PM CT).
Presenter & Topic
- Melinda Wiggins, (Director Labor South) Community-centered authority & equity – Director of Labor South, former Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers and granddaughter of sharecroppers, Melinda brings a worker justice perspective to the question of who controls labor history. She will discuss how labor archives and primary sources can serve frontline communities, avoid extractive practices, and center the needs of workers and their organizations.
About Labor South: Mission & History
Labor South: Center for Working Class Studies is a North Carolina-based, region-wide organization whose name evokes the legacy of the Knights of Labor, an inclusive 19th-century union that organized across racial and skill lines in the South. Labor South anchors current organizing campaigns in Southern labor history, deepens the leadership and organizing skills of young workers, and prioritizes language justice principles in building multi-racial worker unity in the US South. Labor South builds power for collective action by promoting the voices of those often left out of leadership roles - young workers, immigrants, and workers in rural areas.
Core Programs
Labor South builds on the deep history of organizing in the region, bringing labor history to current campaigns, building multi-racial and multi-sector alliances, fostering multi-generational story telling, and bringing an intersectional lens that links racial, social, and environmental justice issues.
Labor South:
Organizes a diverse group of young workers, organizers and working-class students to learn about the history of organizing in the South and to gain practical research, oral history, language justice, and direct action skills through in-person intensives and apprenticeships
Builds the leadership of worker leaders, union members, and organizers through political education, infrastructure support and training that connects labor history with current campaigns
Educates social, environmental and economic justice organizations, academics, and other allies on organizing and current campaigns focused on workers’ rights through continuing education classes, workshops, publications and exhibits
Potential Collaborations with LAS
While no formal partnership yet exists, several pathways are emerging:
Supporting the Certificate in Working Class Studies through a "Researching Labor History" module and archival research placements.
Curating digital primary source "Popular Education Toolkits" for union and worker center use.
Partnering on a "Southern Labor Voices" oral history project.
Proposing small grants through the Southern Workers Opportunity Fund for archival research tied to contemporary organizing.
Creating a student research internship model placing certificate students in special collections.
Partnering on a special issue of Southern Cultures quarterly focused on agricultural labor
A full list of collaboration ideas will be discussed during the brown bag, followed by Q&A.
Event Details
📅 Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2026
⏰ Time: 2:00–3:00 PM ET (11:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM MT / 1:00 PM CT)
💻 Location: Zoom
🔗 Registration: No registration required – LAS members will receive the link via the section listserv.
The session will include time for Q&A and discussion. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact LAS Co-chair Conor Casey ([email protected])
We hope to see you there!
Topic: LAS Brown Bag Labor South
Time: Jun 3, 2026 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
