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
Author
Author: Bill Yund
Publisher
Steel Valley Printers
City
Homestead, PA
Genre
Keywords
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
Places
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