Cooper's Walk: An Illustrated Tale of Pennsylvania Labor
| Title | Cooper's Walk: An Illustrated Tale of Pennsylvania Labor |
| Year of Publication | 2006 |
| Publication Type | Graphic Novel |
| Number of Pages or Episodes | 40 p. |
| Language | English |
| Authors | Yund, Bill |
| Publisher | Steel Valley Printers |
| City | Homestead, PA |
| Keywords | Allan Pinkerton (1819-84); Edwin Drake (1819-80); Great Fire of Pittsburgh of 1845; Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919); Homestead Steel Strike of 1892; immigrants; Mother Jones (1837-1930); Pennsylvania oil rush; Pittsburgh Cotton Girls Strike of 1845; Pressed Car Steel Strike of 1909; Railroad Strike of 1877; William Sylvis (1828-69) |
| Abstract | The protagonist, born Jacques Perdiquer in Alsace in 1822, joins the “compagnonnage” of coopers, a French brotherhood of barrel-makers, at 16. Jacques then emigrates to Philadelphia in 1842 in order to avoid seven years of French military service. Here he takes on an American name, Jack Cooper. The Philadelphia Nativist Riots of that year chase Cooper west to Allegheny City where his trade connects him to nearly every major event in Pittsburgh labor history: the Great Pittsburgh Fire of 1845; Cotton Girls Strike of 1845; Pennsylvania Oil Rush; Railroad Strike of 1877; Homestead Strike of 1892; and the 1909 Pressed Car Strike. |
| Notes | Cooper's Walk was partially supported by the Pennsylvania Labor Education Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. North Side is referred to as Allegheny City, as it was then known. |
| Author Biography | Bill Yund (1942— ), a retired industrial insulator, is a writer and illustrator long involved in labor journalism. Yund lives in the northwest corner of Allegheny County. |
| Time | 1840s-1900s |
COPYRIGHT © 2023 Jake Oresick.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY).