Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring one album or musical collection for your listening pleasure; one movie or TV show/season for your viewing pleasure and one recommendation for background viewing – perfect for having on while having dinner, reading or just hanging out at home. Enjoy!
This week, in keeping with it being the long Labor Day Weekend in the U.S., here are some listening and viewing suggestions that compliment Labor Day.
And for anyone interested in the history of Labor Day in the United States; which has its origins in the rise of labor movements in the U.S. in the late nineteenth century; here is a link to a short New York Public Library history of the holiday:
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First off the music, this week the album
Talking Union (1955) by the Almanac Singers with Song Swappers
Staring with the song:
We Shall Not Be Moved
About The Album: The Almanac Singers were a folk group that originally played together between 1940 and 1943; and included musicians Lee Hayes, Millard Campbell, Bess Hawes, Woody Guthrie, Arthur Stern, Pete Seeger and Sis Cunningham. The group played songs that focused on the lives of working class people and the importance of labor unions. This album was released in 1955.
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Moving on to our Suggested Viewing title of the week; this week our recommendation is:
Matewan (1987)
About The Movie: Written and directed by John Sayles, this wrenching historical drama recounts the true story of a West Virginia coal town where the local miners’ struggle to form a union rose to the pitch of all-out war in 1920. When Matewan’s miners go on strike, organizer Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper, in his film debut) arrives to help them, uniting workers white and black, Appalachia-born and immigrant, while urging patience in the face of the coal company’s violent provocations. With a crackerjack ensemble cast—including James Earl Jones, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, and Will Oldham—and Oscar-nominated cinematography by Haskell Wexler, Matewan taps into a rich vein of Americana with painstaking attention to local texture, issuing an impassioned cry for justice that still resounds today. – Criterion Collection Review
About Formats: Matewan is not currently available to stream through the usual steaming services; it is available on DVD and may be checked out at the library in the DVD format.
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Bonus Labor Day Weekend Streaming Suggestions
Since it is a long weekend – and you might have some extra time on your hands – here are two more suggested views that compliment Labor Day.
Norma Rae (1979)
About The Movie: Norma Rae (1979) is a drama based on the true story of a textile worker in a small Southern town who becomes involved in a campaign to unionize her factory.
Norma Rae (Sally Field, in an Oscar winning performance) works long hours in a harsh textile mill where workers face low wages, poor working conditions, and constant pressure from management. When Reuben Warshowsky (Ron Leibman), a union organizer from New York, arrives to organize the employees, Norma initially remains skeptical.
As she learns more about the workers’ situation, Norma becomes increasingly committed to the union effort. Her activism puts her job—and eventually her personal relationships—at risk.
The film’s most famous moment occurs when Norma is fired for her union activities. She climbs onto a table on the factory floor and writes “UNION” on a piece of cardboard. She holds it up while the machinery around her gradually goes silent as the workers stop working in solidarity with her.
The union ultimately succeeds in organizing the plant.
About Formats: Norma Rae is not currently available to stream through the usual steaming services; it is available on DVD and may be checked out from the library.
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
About The Movie: The Grapes of Wrath (1940): If you enjoy powerful stories about ordinary people facing extraordinary hardship, The Grapes of Wrath is well worth watching. John Ford’s acclaimed adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel follows the Joad family as they leave their Oklahoma farm during the Dust Bowl and travel to California in search of work. Along the way, they encounter poverty, exploitation, and the harsh realities faced by migrant workers. Henry Fonda gives a memorable performance as Tom Joad, a man who gradually comes to understand that standing together may be the only way working people can fight for a better life. Both moving and beautifully filmed, the movie remains a powerful portrait of family, dignity, perseverance, and solidarity.
About Formats: The Grapes of Wrath is available to stream through the usual streaming services; i.e. Amazon, Apple, Google Play etc. It may also be checked out and streamed through Hoopla (one of the library’s digital resources)
Additionally, the movie is available on Blu-ray and standard DVD; and may also be checked out at the library in the DVD format.
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Background Viewing
(Perfect to have on while having dinner, reading etc.)
Peaceful Autumn Lakeside Cabin
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Have a great weekend!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Information on the four library catalogs (content available 24/7!)
The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
And The Digital Catalog/Libby features titles that may be checked out via the one-copy-one-user lending model, just like print books.
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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron checkout limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
Titles in the Hoopla Catalog are available to be checked out on-demand by all library card holders, with the caveat of being able to check out a maximum of ten titles per month, per card.
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Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
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StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
Have questions about any of the catalogs?
Give us a call!
You can reach us at 607-936-3713 or visit our website at https://ssclibrary.org/
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