On Strike and on Film

Mexican American Families and Blacklisted Filmmakers in Cold War America

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book On Strike and on Film by Ellen R. Baker, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ellen R. Baker ISBN: 9781469606545
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: September 1, 2012
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Ellen R. Baker
ISBN: 9781469606545
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: September 1, 2012
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In 1950, Mexican American miners went on strike for fair working conditions in Hanover, New Mexico. When an injunction prohibited miners from picketing, their wives took over the picket lines--an unprecedented act that disrupted mining families but ultimately ensured the strikers' victory in 1952. In On Strike and on Film, Ellen Baker examines the building of a leftist union that linked class justice to ethnic equality. She shows how women's participation in union activities paved the way for their taking over the picket lines and thereby forcing their husbands, and the union, to face troubling questions about gender equality.

Baker also explores the collaboration between mining families and blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers that resulted in the controversial 1954 film Salt of the Earth. She shows how this worker-artist alliance gave the mining families a unique chance to clarify the meanings of the strike in their own lives and allowed the filmmakers to create a progressive alternative to Hollywood productions. An inspiring story of working-class solidarity, Mexican American dignity, and women's liberation, Salt of the Earth was itself blacklisted by powerful anticommunists, yet the movie has endured as a vital contribution to American cinema.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1950, Mexican American miners went on strike for fair working conditions in Hanover, New Mexico. When an injunction prohibited miners from picketing, their wives took over the picket lines--an unprecedented act that disrupted mining families but ultimately ensured the strikers' victory in 1952. In On Strike and on Film, Ellen Baker examines the building of a leftist union that linked class justice to ethnic equality. She shows how women's participation in union activities paved the way for their taking over the picket lines and thereby forcing their husbands, and the union, to face troubling questions about gender equality.

Baker also explores the collaboration between mining families and blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers that resulted in the controversial 1954 film Salt of the Earth. She shows how this worker-artist alliance gave the mining families a unique chance to clarify the meanings of the strike in their own lives and allowed the filmmakers to create a progressive alternative to Hollywood productions. An inspiring story of working-class solidarity, Mexican American dignity, and women's liberation, Salt of the Earth was itself blacklisted by powerful anticommunists, yet the movie has endured as a vital contribution to American cinema.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Long Gray Lines by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book "She Ought to Have Taken Those Cakes": Southern Women and Rural Food Supplies by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book The Search for Form by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Constituting Empire by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Prostitution, Modernity, and the Making of the Cuban Republic, 1840-1920 by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Faithful Magistrates and Republican Lawyers by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Myths of Demilitarization in Postrevolutionary Mexico, 1920-1960 by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book The Ashley Cooper Plan by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Adventure Carolinas by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Decoration Day in the Mountains by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book The Blood of Government by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book The Economics of Emancipation by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book The Phenomenology of Henry James by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Sexual Revolutions in Cuba by Ellen R. Baker
Cover of the book Religious Freedom by Ellen R. Baker
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy