| Blue Jenkins: Working for Workers Contributor(s): Pferdehirt, Julia (Author) |
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ISBN: 0870204270 ISBN-13: 9780870204272 Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press OUR PRICE: $11.66 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2011 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography - Cultural, Ethnic & Regional - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography - Social Activists - Juvenile Nonfiction | History - United States - State & Local |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2011022842 |
| Lexile Measure: 800 |
| Series: Badger Biographies |
| Physical Information: 0.4" H x 7" W x 8.9" (0.85 lbs) 160 pages |
| Accelerated Reader Info |
| Quiz #: 150594 Reading Level: 5.4 Interest Level: Middle Grades Point Value: 2.0 |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: When William "Blue" Jenkins was onlysix months old, he moved with his parents from a Mississippi sharecropper s farm to the industrial city of Racine, Wisconsin with dreams of a new life. As an African-American in the pre civil rights era, Blue came face to face with racism: the Ku Klux Klan hung a black figure in effigy from a tree in the Jenkins family s yard. Growing up, Blue knew where blacks could shop, eat, and get a job in Racine and where they couldn t. The injustices that confronted Blue in his young life would drive his desire to make positive changes to his community and workplace in adulthood. Thisaddition tothe Badger Biographies series shares Blue Jenkins s story as it acquaints young readers with African-American and labor history. Following an all-star career as a high school football player, Blue became involved in unions through his work at Belle City Malleable. As World War II raged on, he participated in the home-front battle against discrimination in work, housing, and economic opportunity. When Blue became president of the union at Belle City, he organized blood drives and fought for safety regulations. He also helped to integrate labor union offices. In 1962, he became president of the U.A.W. National Foundry in the Midwest, and found himself in charge of 50,000 foundry union members." |