Outspoken: The Exhibit, A Crucible of Free Speech: Free Speech for the Masses

A Newberry Library and Chicago Historical Society Exhibit: October 1, 2004, to January 15, 2005

Crucible of Free Speech: Free Speech for the Masses

Trade unions and radical movements used film, radio, and mass-circulation magazines to advance their social causes and to reach audiences among Chicago's working class.

During the Great Depression, Americans confronted the possibility that neither capitalism nor democracy could meet their material and political needs. In Chicago, a newly revived trade union movement sought not only higher wages, but also greater economic and political democracy for workers. Chicago�s industrial workers, sometimes with the energetic support of socialists and communist organizers, gained free speech at work and greater participation in local and national politics.

This exhibit has been organized by the Newberry Library's Dr. William M. Scholl Center for Family and Community History and the Chicago Historical Society. It has been made possible with major funding provided in part by The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning. Generous support also provided by The Chicago Reader and Dr. and Mrs. Tapas K. Das Gupta.