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2011 Summer Schools
Further Information will be posted as it becomes available
The Northeast Regional Women's School will be hosted by the School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers, the State Univ. of NJ. Dates: July 17 (Sunday) - July 22 (Friday), 2011. Coordinators will be Donna Schulman and Tracy Chang, with assistance from Laura Walkoviak, all from Rutgers, and Karen Bellamy Lewis, IFPTE. Brochure, including registration form, and scholarship application forms are available for download here. More information about the school is also available here.
The Northeast Regional Women's School provides a number of mostly partial scholarships each year. In addition, this year the Berger-Marks Foundation is sponsoring FOUR FULL scholarships targeted at young union women. The Berger-Marks scholarships include travel money as well.
The 2011 Midwest School for Women Workers will take place at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, July 28-31. The Coordinator is Gayle Hamilton, Wayne State U. Planning information and registration form, as well as scholarship application form, are available for download here. The complete brochure will be posted soon.
The 2011 Western Regional Summer Institute for Union Women will be held June 16-20 at the University of Hawaii. Adrienne Valdez is the Coordinator. Brochure, registration form, and scholarship application form are available for download here.
The Southern School for Union Women will be at the DaySring Conference Center, in Parrish, FL (outside St. Petersburg), August 3-7. The Coordinator is Dawn Addy. Flyer, registration form, and scholarship application form are available for download here.
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Resources from Summer Schools Newly Updated, 2010: Union Women Taking Back America Click here to download an exhaustive bibliography/filmography for women union activists, lovingly compiled by Donna Schulman for the 33d Northeast Regional Women's Summer School, and completely updated for the 35th school in 2010. We Were There Bev Grant has been the cultural director of the NE Regional Summer School for the past 17 years or so. Each year we present a women's labor history show called We Were There for which Bev composed a theme song of the same name back in 1994. She has been performing the show outside of the school and donating a portion of the profit to our scholarship committee. Last summer, she made a music video out of the song, using images from the show. She is now writing a brochure and citing the history of its existence. To watch the video, click here. |
History of the Union Women's Summer Schools
Now in their 34th year, the Union Women's Summer Schools began in the Northeast Region and expanded to the Midwest, Western and Southern Districts of the United States. Their conception was rooted in the traditions of early worker education,as exemplified by the Bryn Mawr summer schools for Women Workers of the 1920;s and the WPA worker education programs of the 1930's, Courses of study were tailored to the needs and interests of working people. Barbara Wertheimer, Director of Cornell' Institute of Women and Work, introduced the idea to colleagues in the University and College Labor Education Association (precursor to the UALE). Encouraged by the the rising feminist movement and the founding of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the UCLEA launched its first school in 1975 at the University of Connecticut. Designed by a committee of labor educators, the residential school s bring together rank and file women workers , officers and staff to strengthen their knowledge of the labor movement and develop skills which will enable them to become more active and influential in their unions. The schools are a place where women unionists can share experiences and give one another support. As Gloria Johnson, past President of CLUW and frequent speaker at the schools' graduations ceremonies pointed out, "We have to create "old girls" networks to be able to support each other and advance. "The schools contribute to this objective, as evidenced by the record of participants. Over the past 34 years, the schools have educated thousands, many of whom have become leaders of their unions
Current union women summer schools are coordinated by the UALE Women's Committee and rotate in location as they are hosted by university labor education programs in each region. Scholarships are available. Classes are supplemented with networking opportunities. Often participants engage in demonstrations relating to local labor struggles. Visitors from unions in other countries frequently participate.
For more pictures of past summer schools, go to our Photo Gallery pages
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2010 Summer Schools This year, the Berger-Marks Foundation sponsored 4 young women to come to the Summer Schools-- one to each school. Read the story here. The Western Regional Summer Institute for Union Women took place July 6-10, 2010, at Reed College in Portland, OR. Helen Moss was the Coordinator The Northeast Regional Women's School was at Penn State University in State College, PA, during the last week of July, 2010. Coordinators were Cheryl Reynolds, Julie Sadler and Amy Dietz. For newly revised and updated version of Donna Schulman's exhaustive bibliography/filmography for union women, click here. The Midwest School for Women Workers was hosted by the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service in Minneapolis, from July 28-August 1. The Coordinators were Mary Bellman and Deborah Rosenstein. A complete report with some very nice pictures has been posted at the Workday Minnesota website. The 2010 Southern School for Union Women was held at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD, from Aug 19 -22.Coordinators were Elise Bryant or Barbara Miller. Note: Brochures for the 2010 women's schools are still available for download here. |
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2009 Summer Schools The Northeast Women's School took place August 2-7 at SUNY Stonybrook, in Stonybrook, NY. The Cordinators were Kitty Krupat and Debra Bergen. To see photos from the school, click here. To download a copy of the Northeast Women's Summer School Newsletter, Sister Solidarity, produced by participants, click here, and then on "Newspaper.pdf". The Western Regional Summer Institute for Union Women took place August 11 - 15, 2009, at UCLA DeNeve Plaza. Coordinator: Lanita Morris. To see photos from the school, click here. To see a report on the Western Regional Women's Summer Institute, click here, and then on "WesternSIUW09 Report.pdf". The Western SIUW also started a Facebook page. Last, but not least, visit YouTube to see the video created in one of their workshops: "So many people get mad at what happens on their jobs. They curse out their boss, curse out their unions. But these 15 women --from Canada and the USA-- decided to get active in their unions. Why? Listen to their Aha moments. ..." 88 women students attended the combined Southern & Midwest School for Union Women at the Scarrit Bennett Center in Nashville, Tennessee, August 27- 30. 18 faculty members, from universities, unions and other organizations, taught the classes. Download the report here. And visit our Photo Gallery page to see a group picture. |
2008 Summer SchoolsThe Western Regional Summer Institute for Union Women was held at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island,BC, July 9-13. To download the brochure, click here. The Midwest and Southern Regions held a combined Women's School at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, from July 10-13. For brochure, click here. The Northeast Women's School took place at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, CT, August 3-8. For brochure, click here. Pictures of the 2008 Northeast Women's School can be seen on our Photo Gallery page.
2005 Union Women's Summer Schools
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2003 Union Women's Summer Schools
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2002 Union Women's Summer Schools
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