“Each landmark, whether in stone, metal, or ‘new’ material, reveals hidden messages and suggests a particular web of meaning. I suggest a visit to an existing site, anywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Go by foot, car, bus, or rail; at each stop, you will find reminders, marked or not, to working Americans. Go east, west, north, south. Accept discovery’s joy; decode our heritage etched in marble and bronze.”
- Archie Green (1917–2009), a labor folklorist who devoted his life to documenting workers’ songs, stories, skills and traditions—what he called laborlore. He had worked in the trades and was active in unions before becoming a scholar. He also helped win support for the creation of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
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