ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question: In what ways was the IWO ahead of its time?
The International Workers Order (IWO) was an insurance, mutual benefit and fraternal organization that functioned in the United States between 1930 and 1954. At its height in the years immediately following World War II, the IWO reached nearly 200,000 members and provided low-cost health and life insurance, medical and dental clinics, and supported foreign-language newspapers, as well as cultural and educational activities.
From Popular Front to Cold War: The Interracial Left and the International Workers Order, 1930-1954 is an anthology of thirteen articles covering the many aspects of the organization. It was edited by Dr. Elissa Sampson and Dr. Robert M. Zecker, both of whom also contributed articles.
Dr. Sampson is an urban geographer, Research Associate and Lecturer in the Jewish Studies Program at Cornell University. She studies how the past is actively used in diasporas to create new spaces of migration, memory, heritage and activism. Dr. Zecker is a Professor of History at St. Francis Xavier University where he teaches courses in race, immigration, social movements, and US history.
