History Revealed: Farmer-Labor Movement

The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story
Documentary Film Screening & Discussion with Filmmakers Randy Croce, Tom O’Connell, and Anna Kuharjec

History Revealed Series
Program Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022
Video on YouTube

In partnership with the East Side Freedom Library and the Roseville Library

The Farmer-Labor movement founded the most successful third-party in U.S. political history. This progressive movement elected candidates and advanced political change in Minnesota from 1917 until its merger with the Democrats in 1944, to form the DFL, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The documentary portrays this history through the voices of Farmer-Labor leaders and their descendants, as well as contemporary historians and activists. Animated segments bring the personal stories of Farmer-Labor men and women to life, while songs from the period convey the spirit of the movement.

While the movement’s ideas and achievements still affect Minnesota’s political and social fabric, its history is largely unknown. The documentary addresses that awareness gap and points out how Farmer-Labor goals and the challenges still resonate today.

Filmmakers

Randy Croce has been a documentary photographer and video producer since 1976. His PBS broadcast shows include Clouded Land, If Stone Could Speak and Who built Our Capitol? He worked at the U of M Labor Education Service, where he produced shows with workers and their unions.

Tom O’Connell is a retired professor of Political Studies from Metropolitan State University and served as founding chairperson of ESFL’s Board of Directors. He has taught and written about social movements with a special focus on MInnesota’s Farmer-Labor and Progressive Populist History.

Anna Kuharjec has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Illinois and is teaching in the History program of the Dougherty Family College of the University of St. Thomas.

Making Minnesota: Natives, Settlers, Migrants, and Immigrants
The Ramsey County Historical Society, in partnership with the East Side Freedom Library, the Ramsey County Roseville Library and other community organizations,  presented a series of programs and events that will center on the experiences of indigenous people, African Americans, and immigrants in Ramsey County from the 1800s through the current day. programs which focus on the too often lost, erased, forgotten or misrepresented histories and stories of Ramsey County and the state of Minnesota. We expect these presentations to enrich and complicate our understanding of the development of the county and the state that we call home.

Past History Revealed Programs
More videos of some of our past History Revealed programs are available on the RCHS YouTube channel.
Ramsey County Historical Society Youtube Channel

To purchase titles from the History Revealed series, or other books of interest, see our partner, Subtext Books at https://subtextbooks.com/