Projects

2007 Projects

Thompson Henry Murch

The Granite Cutters International Union.

• The Granite Cutters International Union was organized on March 10,1870. The meeting took place in Rockland, Maine, at the Lynn Hotel, which used to be on the corner of Main and Park Streets.
•  Thompson Henry Murch was the founder. He was the unions's secretary and editor of its monthly journal for two years until he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Throughout 2007, Dorothea will be speaking throughout New England on the union's origin, history and its tremendous impact it had on the granite industry and the early labor movement within the United States and Canada.

 According to Charles A. Scontras in his 1994 study of Maine Labor Unions, Collective Efforts Among Maine Workers: Beginnings and Foundations, 1820-1880, “The Maine granite cutters, through their formation of the Granite Cutters National Union, made a major contribution to the national labor movement, and for many years served as in inspirational model for workers throughout the state.”

Dorothea's first speaking engagement this year will be on March 10, 2007, Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Lighthouse Museum in Rockland, Maine. A power point presentation will be presented and there will be artifacts and material for viewing regarding the granite industry and its union. Refreshments will be served after the talk. 

Past Projects

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