MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — David Witwer, professor of American studies and history, and Catherine Rios, associate professor of communications and humanities, from Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Humanities, will present “A Murder in the Garment District: Labor Racketeering 101” from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, in the Olmsted Building Gallery Lounge.
Witwer, a historian, and Rios, a fiction writer, share their collaborative process for writing a nonfiction account of labor racketeering in New York City's Garment District in the 1950s. The story encompasses the role of organized crime and the political ramifications of labor racketeering for the union movement in that era, as well as the influence and complicity of journalists, business leaders, labor organizers, and the workers impacted by a decades long battle for control.
Witwer’s teaching interests include labor history, and history of organized crime. Rios’ teaching interests include filmmaking, screenwriting and fiction writing.
The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Stephanie Ponnett at [email protected].
To watch the presentation online, visit https://psu.zoom.us/j/822723385.
