1998 Union Hall of Honor
Webtrax Admin
Alma Washington
"For many years we have applauded the passionate embrace of labor’s cause by Lucy Parsons as performed by Alma Washington.”
Throughout the 1990s Washington has portrayed Lucy Parsons, a key figure, in Come Along with Me by Kathlyn Miles. This performance is part of the Women’s Labor History Theatre Project which performs before school groups. Washington is active in the Actors’ Equity organization.
William Walker
“For his powerful gifts to public art in Chicago, and especially his great mural, The Worker.”
Walker painted the great mural of working class history on the exterior south wall of the Charles Hayes Family Investment Center. Although the mural depicts packinghouse workers in particular, Walker believed that his work was universal to all workers which stressed labor empowerment.
Paul Robeson
“Ever ready to offer his many talents to the service of peace, justice, and labor.”
As an artist, Robeson has sought to create works which empower organized labor. He was a singer as well as an actor who became a supporter of labor and civil rights. Robeson’s compositions inspire worker solidarity and is prominent among the United Packinghouse Workers.