New York Labor History Association

The winners of the Bernhardt Prize are Emily Harris and David Kameras for their article, “From Tragedy to Triumph: 100 Years Later Workers Benefit From Ludlow’s Legacy,” which appeared in the May-June 2014 issue of the United Mine Workers Journal.

The award was presented at the first annual Debra E. Bernhardt Labor Journalism Prize reception, held on October 15, 2015 at Tamiment/Wagner Labor Archives of New York University.  Before a full house, David Kameras accepted the prize from Irwin Yellowitz, the President of the New York Labor History Association.  Both Kameras and Yellowitz stressed the importance of labor history in educating current union members about their union and the larger labor movement.  The event also included personal remarks about Debra Bernhardt from her son, Alexander, and from a long time colleague, Rachel Bernstein; welcoming remarks from Tim Johnson, the Director of Tamiment/Wagner; and a lively panel discussion on the subject, Labor History in Workers’ Stories, by Tom Robbins, an investigative journalist, Esther Kaplan of the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, and Richard Steier, Editor of the Chief-Leader. Other cosponsors of the event, in addition to the New York Labor History Association and Tamiment/Wagner, were Labor Arts, the Metro New York Labor Communications Council and the New York City Central Labor Council.