Review by Michaela Corniea

“Red November, black November.

Bleak November, black and red;

Hallowed month of Labor’s martyrs,

Labor’s heroes, Labor’s dead.”

-excerpt from Ralph Chaplin’s song “November,”

 inspired by the Haymarket Affair, 

quoted in Red November, Black November by Salvatore Salerno

In Red November, Black November, Salvatore Salerno examines the culture and community of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) at the turn of the twentieth century.  In the introduction, he describes this book as an “analysis of the cultural influences affecting the emergence and development of the I.W.W.’s labor radicalism” and “an assessment of the nature and extent of the impact of European syndicalism on the I.W.W. before the outbreak of World War I” (1).  Previous scholars and historians have failed to examine the “artistic and cultural activity” of the Industrial Workers of the World and Salerno rectifies this by diving into the significance of songs, plays, and other intellectual and artistic tools used by the I.W.W. (21).  Art is a powerful tool in organizing, and the “Wobblies” as the I.W.W. came to be known, utilized it well.  Through their songs, plays, and graphics, Salvatore Salerno breaks down the different practices and policies of the Industrial Workers of the World, examines the changes in organizational structure, and tracks political ideas.

At the East Side Freedom Library, this book actually belongs to the Rachleff collection, but it was one I picked up in connection with the books Salerno donated to the library.  Salvatore Salero’s collection expands upon the information from this book in many directions.  Like in his book, labor is a major theme of the collection, as well as unions, anarchists, industry, and strikes.  Mentioned in Red November, Black November are the Haymarket Affair, Emma Goldman, and Upton Sinclair; there are multiple books one Haymarket and Goldman on Salerno’s shelves.  He donated twelve books by or about Upton Sinclair to the library.  (There are, of course, other connections as well, including the emphasis on Italian immigrants in both this book and on the shelves of the collection.  For more details, I do a deeper dive into Salerno’s collection here.)  

After examining his collection, this was the perfect book to read as it gives background to many of the topics and people I saw on the spines or in the descriptions of the books Salerno donated.

In Red November, Black November, Salerno starts off with a bit of history.  The I.W.W. started as a countermovement against the practices of the American Federation of Labor, highlighting instead a form of class-consciousness based on working-class solidarity (4).  It grew into several different organizational structures, shifting as the balance of power shifted and picking up new ideas and symbolism as immigrants brought their politics to the organization.  Where it gets interesting is the way Salerno chooses to examine these changes – through the lens of art.  For example, Joe Hill, a well-known songwriter for the Wobblies, used symbols of French syndicalism in much of his work which indicates “penetration of European syndicalist beliefs into the I.W.W. ‘s political culture” (16). By looking at the I.W.W.’s political stance before and after specific contributions, Salerno is tying in the important artistic expressions with the development of the Wobblies.  Through this perspective we learn that Italian immigrants in the early 20th century were the most prolific carriers of syndicalist beliefs, and that immigrant anarchists had a major role in the “diffusion of syndicalist ideas” (48, 58).  Overall Salerno is showing how outside ideas were brought into the organization through various creative outlets, and from there how the ideas are spread using those same outlets.  I had the chance to speak to Sal, who said that he was drawn to the Wobblies for this specific reason; he was interested in the role of artists in the I.W.W.  In particular, it was the cartoonists that drew his attention, as their work could not be edited in the same way as text and therefore made it easier to see the influence of the organizational anarchist ideas.

Another piece of note is that the Industrial Workers of the World were less-than-formal in their organizational structure.  While the I.W.W. had a philosophy of industrial unionism, this was a “sensibility more than a doctrine or formal ideology,” allowing for a more social sense to be built within the organization (147).   “Appeals to class feeling rather than formal ideology is characteristic of much of the Wobbly art forms,” Salerno notes (147).  The theme of solidarity is the strongest thread tying the Wobblies together – a “sense of shared lived experience” as Salerno defined it – that acts as a natural draw to the organization and is then emphasized by their narrative that invites others to the experience as well.  This is one of the purposes for their songs; they are a way to band together and also an expression of togetherness.  From the author’s descriptions, the art that emerges from this culture serves many purposes.  It is a celebration of marginalized people, a strategy used to educate through the combination of art and politics, a tool to awaken larger feelings of solidarity, and an easy way to spread the ideas of the organization.  In some parts of the U.S., mixed locals (a structure taken on by the I.W.W. around 1916) “developed into intellectual and cultural centers of the [labor] movement” as they combined art and politics in plays, poems, debates, and songs (34).  Their artistic expression set the I.W.W. apart and allowed for greater understanding of their ideas and mission.  

Though the development of the Wobblies and the changes they made to labor is important and in focus throughout this book, what often caught and held my attention is the emphasis on art as a tool.  I think of how songs can share a powerful social message, such as “I Believe You” by Fletcher which is a song that arose from the #MeToo movement.  I think of the murals that filled the streets in response to the murder of George Floyd.  I think of stickers posted on water bottles and lampposts and street signs promoting Black Lives Matter and women’s rights.  In fact, I learned from Salerno that the Wobblies referred to stickers as “silent agitators” and actually developed the technique of placing them in public to advocate for change.  Whether used for spreading ideas of industrial unionism or racial justice, in the past or the present, art has an emotional impact that can easily sway people to action, encourage education, and create a lasting impact. 

If you are interested in learning and reading more, the East Side Freedom Library carries several books related to this topic.  One suggestion is 100 Years of Labor in the USA by Daniel Guérin, which can be found in the Salerno collection.  For more about the Wobblies, check out Always on Strike: Frank Little and the Western Wobblies by Arnold Stead, which is located in the Rachleff collection.  If you’re interested in the use of art as a tool for organizing, you might like Wild Fire: Art as Activism edited by Deborah Barndt and located in the Olds collection, and But is it Art?: the Spirit of Art as Activism edited by Nina Felshin and found in the Rachleff collection.