The Harry Bridges Project

Welcome to the Harry Bridges Project

Celebrating our 10th Anniversary

The Harry Bridges Project began ten years ago to promote the legacy of labor leader Harry Bridges and to aid in the public's understanding of his historical importance. Bridges' work still has an enormous impact on our lives, yet is largely unknown outside specific labor union and academic circles. Our project presents his story to a much wider public through a variety of media. We take our audiences on a journey through some of America's most turbulent years, with one of its most dynamic figures as their guide.

Merchandise

To order Project related merchandise – DVDs, CDs, Posters and T-Shirts – please click here to visit our store.

Two New Grants!

We have just been awarded a second two-year grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission – this one to develop a strategic marketing plan for booking performances of “From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks”, particularly in community colleges and universities.

Ian has been awarded a COLA (City of Los Angeles) Fellowship to write his new one-man play about the one truly radical Founding Father Thomas Paine. The first public performances will take place in late spring and early summer 2011 in Seattle and Los Angeles.

Links to this new project will be available soon.

Read more about the PBS Airings of "From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks" in 2009

New 2010 airings

KQED World
Comcast 190/Digital 9.3

Sunday, September 5th, 2010 9 PM

Iowa Public Television –

Sunday, September 5, 2010 1:00 AM (IPTV)
Monday, September 6, 2010 7:00 PM (IPTV World)

Watch us on YouTube

To see all five videos go to our YouTube page.

Here is a sample of what you'll see.

Performances Booked for 2010

Oregon State University, Memorial Union East, Corvallis, November 5^th at 7 PM. Free and open to the public. More details to follow.
Anchorage Senior Activity Center, Anchorage, Alaska, May 7th at 7 PM. Open to the public, tickets $5
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Delegates Congress, Los Angeles Convention Center, February 2nd t 9:30
Center for Collaborative Solutions Conference, Disney Paradise Pier Hotel, Orange County, CA, March 25th at 9:30 AM ("Sam & Harry")

Performances in 2009

National Educational Association, Uniserve Managers Conference, Doubletree Hotel, San Diego, March 3rd 1:00 p.m.
Center for Collaborative Solutions Conference , Disney Paradise Pier Hotel, March 18.
Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Washington State Convention Center, Seatle, March 27th 3:45 p.m.
North American Society for Oceanic History, at the California Maritime Academy, May 15th at 6:30
Connecticut Education Association Leadership Conference, Mohegan Sun Resort, CT, August 5th at 9 AM
UFCW Local 5 Stewards Conference, San Jose, CA July 28th
Nevada Education Association Summer Conference, University of Nevada, Reno, August 6th at 1 PM
York College of Pennsylvania, October 22, 2009.
Cleveland State University, MC Auditorium, Oct.24 th 6:00 p.m. sponsored by The Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 3 and Cleveland Jobs with Justice.

More Recent Performances :

Harvard Law School, Trade Union Program's 65th Anniversary, Cambridge, MA, October 6, 2007. See letter of recommendation here.
California Teachers Association, Region 3 Leadership Conference, Los Angeles, CA. February 3rd, 2008
University of Washington, "Walker-Ames Lecturer" series, Spring,

Guthrie Center, Great Barrington, MA June 7th at 8 PM
The National Union of Public and General Employees and CAW/TCA Canada, Ottawa, Canada, June 9th, at the Cube Gallery
The Comey Institute of Industrial Relations at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA. June 28th, 7:30 p.m.
The Liverpool Dockers/Initiative Factory at The Casa, 29 Hope Street, Liverpool, England. August 8th and 9th, 2008
Alaska AFL-CIO State Federation, Conference and Public Performance, Anchorage, Aug. 27 - 28.
In November of 2006, Ian Ruskin performed his one-man play "From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks" at the AFL-CIO Headquarters in Washington DC. To read the full review click here.

Film Screenings

Screening of "To Make a Long Story Short: the Life and Times of Sam Kagel" at the ILWU Pensioner"s Convention, Long Beach, CA on September 18, 2007
"From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks' at the Dryden Theater, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York, October 12, 2007 as part of their Labor Film Series
"To Make a Long Story Short" – Port of San Francisco January, Pier One, San Francisco, CA, 22nd January, 2007

Videos

The Drill Team

The California Council for the Humanities has continued their support of our work with a grant to produce a documentary film about the ILWU Local 10 Drill Team as part of their California Story Fund.

If you'd like to contribute to the making of this film or to our projects listed below go to our get involved page to make a donation or contact us at ianruskin@theharrybridgesproject.org.

To read an article about the Drill Team, which apppeared in the "Christian Science Monitor," click here.

Click here to see the Drill Team rehearsing.

Click below (broadband connection recommended) to see Arlo Guthrie singing "The Ballad of Harry Bridges."
Arlo Guthrie

Our First Radio Documentary

To listen to the radio documentary "From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks" click Part I and Part II.