The Farmer-Labor Movement: A Minnesota Story
Eight years in the making, a video documentary by UMRA member Randy Croce on the most successful third party in U.S. political history will have its broadcast premier on Pioneer Public Television in Granite Falls, Minnesota, on January 14. Financial support from UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program enabled Croce to travel around the state to shoot historical locations and find documents and images for the production in regional archives. The following interview with Croce, conducted by UMRA member Will Craig, has been edited for length.
Croce: The project fit well with my University job at the Labor Education Service (LES) in the Carlson School, where I taught classes and created videos with union members from 1990 until my 2018 retirement.
Throughout my career, I made documentaries to convey people’s first-person experiences, particularly people whose lives are rarely portrayed by mainstream media. The highly influential yet largely forgotten story of the Farmer-Laborites fully matched my interests and background.
Tom O’Connell, Metro State University history professor emeritus, and Anna Kurhajec, St. Thomas University history instructor, planned the project and wrote the script together with me. Scores of people—including historians, actors, musicians, and video professionals, particularly retiree Howard Kling, former LES chair and video producer—worked on the project.
The grassroots, progressive Farmer-Labor movement began in 1917 in response to the economic hardships and political repression of small farmers and workers. Farmer-Laborites advanced systemic change in Minnesota and brought three governors, four U.S. senators, and nine U.S representatives to office, along with a host of state and local elected leaders. The party merged with the Democrats in 1944 to form the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
The documentary portrays this history through the voices of Farmer-Labor leaders and their descendants, as well as contemporary historians and activists. Animated segments bring the personal stories of Farmer-Labor men and women to life, while songs from the period convey the spirit of the movement.
There are striking parallels between the show’s historic conflicts and contemporary issues: farmers struggling to keep their land, economic inequality, environmental threats, and political polarization. The Farmer-Labor movement’s progressive legacy and the challenges it faced still resonate today.
The documentary is available at farmerlaboreducation.com along with additional information about Farmer-Labor history.
NOTE: The 2023 PDGR awards will be announced in the March 2023 UMRA News. If you have questions about the grant program, please contact PDGR Committee Chair John Bantle at [email protected].
News
At a contentious meeting March 14, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved a resolution restricting University units from issuing statements “of public concern or public interest.” Several dozen faculty and students present vehemently protested the resolution.
The election of UMRA officers and new board members for 2025–26 will be conducted via an online poll from May 12 to 18, with the results to be announced at our annual meeting on May 20. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt leads the slate of nominees as president-elect. She came to the University of Minnesota in 1989 as a professor and associate dean, and retired in 2018.
This spring, UMRA will launch a new member portal to simplify and more efficiently manage many essential tasks, including enrolling new members, updating member records, registering event attendees, and processing payments.
Meet UMRA member Vicki Gaylord. In her 32-year career at the Institute of Community Integration, a U of M Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, her work made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people around the world.
The University Retirees Volunteer Center is seeking candidates to serve on the URVC Leadership Council. The council meets six times per year to identify opportunities for volunteer projects and develop strategies for growing and supporting volunteer participation.
Deanne Magnusson was raised in a family in which education and volunteerism were encouraged. She earned three degrees at the U of M, and enjoyed a career working in education with leaders and schools in Minnesota and across the world. These experiences, and her volunteer work today with URVC, continue to transform her as an educator and as a person.
UMRA’s 2025 Professional Development Grants for Retirees awards cover a diverse set of topics reflecting the breadth of studies undertaken by University retirees, including Mark Bohnhorst for his proposal “More New Thinking about Presidential Elections.”
UMRA member Lynn Slifer is taking full advantage of retirement, pursuing her interests in writing, crafting, babysitting grandchildren, good food, wine, and travel, plus serving on the leadership council of the University Retirees Volunteer Center.
UMRA’s online Journal of Opinions, Ideas & Essays is a unique venue hosting diverse content that is enjoyed by people around the world. If you enjoy helping authors polish their products for publication, JOIE is looking for a new leader. It’s an opportunity that has been tremendously rewarding for the outgoing editor-in-chief.
UMRA has lost contact with many members because of the unfortunate demise of your @umn.edu email accounts. If you haven’t done so already, please update your email address on our system. It won’t take long.