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At Work:
The Art of California Labor

Edited by Mark Dean Johnson
Foreword by Gray Brechin
Afterword by Tillie Olsen

At Work: The Art of California Labor delivers a powerful examination of labor history in California since the turn of the twentieth century. This is a visual journey that follows early events and conditions, from the rise of statewide organized labor to the changing demographics of the wartime workforce; from the zenith of the California Labor School to the farm workers’ movement; from the disenfranchisement of workers in the service economy to the potent effects of globalization felt at the end of the twentieth century. This compilation of images provides a heady insight into one of the most fundamental components of our daily lives and shows how our collective identity has evolved over time.

Mark Dean Johnson

Mark Dean Johnson is a professor of art at San Francisco State University. He is co-author of Chang Dai-chien in California and Brian Tripp.

Gray Brechin

Geographer and environmental historian Gray Brechin is a professor of geography at the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of several books, including Farewell, Promised Land: Waking from the California Dream (with Robert Dawson) and the recent Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin.

Tillie Olsen

Tillie Olsen was one of the first American writers to make labor and the hardships of everyday people a subject for high tragedy. She is the author of Tell Me a Riddle, Yonnondio, and Silences.