During her Then and Now lecture for Fanfare, Edith Ambrose, instructor of history, defined the 1920s and 1950s as an era of low morale for the American worker in her lecture within Pottle Music Auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

“Labor in Jim Crow New Orleans: Thar’s Red in Them Thar Ba’Yous” was the headline for her speech, which was a part of Fanfare’s first week of events. The subheading “Thar’s Red in Them Thar Ba’Yous,” refers to a direct quote taken from a Texas congressman in the late 1930s, Martin Dies Jr., referencing suspicion of communist activity in New Orleans.

“[Dies] was the chair of the House Un-American Activities Committee and he came to New Orleans to do an investigation of communist activity, and that’s what he said,” said Ambrose. “They put it on the front page of the Times-Picayune with a picture of him grimacing.”

“Not a Nickel from Nobody” is the title Ambrose is considering changing the title of her lecture to instead of its current title, which was suggested to her by advisors. The title “Not a Nickel from Nobody” is an allegorical slogan indicating that labor employees had to scrap up as much revenue as they could in order to avoid poverty.

Ambrose’s lecture covered everything from collective bargaining or contracts developed between employers and employees, union federations, to the Roosevelt administration who initiated the New Deal. A series of economic programs was proposed by Roosevelt in the New Deal in order to address the 3 Rs, recovery, relief and reform, while attempting to help the U.S. avoid another depression.

“The poor workers of the United States were not organized and did not have a voice,” said Ambrose.

Anytime the workers attempted to mobilize or create petitions they were discredited as communists. Ambrose said these laborers just wanted industrial democracy and mass political representation in order to achieve economic justice. Instead, they were left with corrupt federations who housed unions, such as the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

Ambrose admits that the general public may have a hard time understanding and differentiating between numerous union titles, political actions and ideological perspectives on labor laws during the 1930s to the late 1950s. However, she is working on a more universal version.

Ambrose believes her research on corrupted legislation involving labor distribution and regulation holds true today.

According to Ambrose, America still has unions who represent select members of the workforce while leaving other individuals waiting for work.

“Who is representing them right now?” said Ambrose. “Is it Bobby Jindal here in Louisiana? Well, he is the one with job of representing them, but it’s an open question as to whether or not their interests are being met. What I would say is they’re not.”