For the Love of the Land on display in Hamilton from Sept. 10 to Nov. 12
Hamilton (15 September 2006) - A rare event in the history of Canadian unions opened this week at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre in Hamilton. It pays tribute to a grassroots battle fought by farmers half a century ago for rural economic justice and recognition in Ontario.
The travelling exhibit is entitled For the Love of the Land: The Story of the Ontario Farmers' Union (1952-1969). The doors opened on Sept. 10 and the exhibit will remain available for public viewing until Nov. 12 (51 Stuart St., Hamilton; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday).
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The bilingual presentation honours the men and women who fought to build and defend the family farm against the relentless agri-business forces of mass production, marketing and technology.
Featuring a series of striking landscape murals, it is a joint production of the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre in partnership with the OFU History Project. It has received generous support from the Museum Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage in Ottawa.
Curator Bruce Dodds
The curator is Bruce Dodds who has worked in collaboration with writer Carol Anderson and designer Jim Miller to make the exhibit a reality. Material is drawn from personal interviews with surviving farmers and activists and an array of photographs and historical documents that recall the mass farm demonstrations, picket lines and tractor protests of the day.
The OFU was the forerunner in Ontario of the National Farmers' Union. Among the many battles it won were the orderly marketing boards and farm safety nets that remain hallmarks of agriculture in the province today.
The exhibit is expected to travel to locations across Ontario over the next several years.
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has been a long-time supporter of collective action by farmers to protect their rights, including marketing boards. It has also fought side by side with other partners in the labour movement to win rights for agricultural workers. NUPGE
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