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Press Release GNHLHA

  • 09 Sep 2018
  • 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
  • 9 September 2018 267 Chapel St New Haven CT 06513

   Greater New Haven Labor History Association Annual Meeting

                       

                            Augusta Lewis Troup “Pass it On” Award Presentations


New Haven, Ct. - August 24, 2018 – The Greater New Haven Labor History Association (GNHLHA) will hold its annual meeting on Sunday, September 9th from 1:30-4pm at the New Haven Labor Center, 267 Chapel Street, New Haven, Ct. The GNHLHA, a 501(c)3 organization, is dedicated to the collection, preservation, sharing and education of the history of working people in the Greater New Haven area. One of the meetings main features, among many, will be the presentation of the Augusta Lewis Troup “Pass it On” Award. This years’ recipients are Norman Zolot (posthumously), one of the most widely known and respected labor lawyers in Connecticut  history and John Lugo of Unidad Latina en Accion (ULA), a grassroots organization dedicated to helping immigrants defend themselves against labor, civil and human rights abuse. 


Augusta Lewis Troup (c. 1848-1920) is considered New Haven’s foremost labor heroine. Raised in New York City an orphan, Lewis Troup, a young woman and groundbreaker, became a reporter, typesetter, labor organizer and journalist. She joined Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in forming the New York Woman’s Association in 1868. Feeling the demand for suffrage (right to vote) should not conflict with labor organizing, she formed and lead the Women’s Typographical Union No. 1 from 1868-1878. In 1874 she married Alexander Troup, publisher of the New Haven Union Newspaper. In New Haven she would go on to earn the title “The Little Mother of the Italian Colony” for her lifelong dedication to helping Italian, African -American, and other immigrants facing discrimination and bias from earlier settled Americans. Lewis Troup eventually became a New Haven teacher and was able to make pensions for teachers a state law in 1911. In 1926 the New Haven Teachers League petitioned the New Haven Board of Education to name a new school after Troup.


Norman Zolot , who passed away on February 6, 2017 at the age of 96 ,was a student of New Haven schools. Upon graduating from Yale University and working as an economist for the U.S.

Department of the Treasury he joined the Air Force during WWII. Upon discharge Zolot earned his law degree from Yale, served as a prosecuting attorney, and was named general counsel for the Community Health Care Center (CHCP).  Governor Dan Malloy proclaimed May 26, 2011 “Norman Zolot Day” in honor of his professional career as a labor lawyer, promoting, strengthening and preserving collective bargaining rights in legislative hearings, at the bargaining table in labor arbitrations, at administrative agencies, on picket lines and in state and federal courtrooms. His son David Monde will accept the award on behalf of his family.


John Lugo, one of the founders of Unidad Latina en Accion, was persecuted in Colombia for his political activities and fled for Canada in 1986. Refused at the Canadian border he had no choice but to seek political asylum in America or be deported back to Colombia. Since being granted asylum in 1990 and becoming a U.S. citizen Lugo has dedicated his life to helping immigrants navigate the complexities of U.S. courts, health care, counseling, meeting basic needs, schooling for adults and children, and defending the rights of immigrant workers.


There will also be presentations on the new Connecticut Statewide Labor History Curriculum, a project of the GNHLHA, the impact on labor in America of the U.S Supreme Court Janus vs. AFSCME decision, an update of national labor strikes, and advocacy for workers’ rights in New Haven.


New Haven Pizza will be served from 1:30-2. Frank Panzarella will sing labor songs. Guests may access parking in the rear of the Labor Center on Saltonstall Avenue.


For more information or an RSVP contact Jim Redman at jimmyred@aol.com or 203-650-2150.


Meeting is free and open to the public.


For membership info go to: laborhistory.org



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