STICKING TO THE UNION: An Oral History of the Life and Times of Julia Ruuttila

Julia Ruuttila (1907–1991) was a lifelong political activist—she was cradled in the Industrial Workers of the World, matured in the CIO, tested in the red-baiting '50s and fully at ease ("too old to get beat up") in popular struggles of the late 20th century. A self-educated free-thinker, Ruuttila supported herself and a variety of family members on the small income she earned working for the ILWU (the longshoremen's union) and reporting for various leftist newspapers. While Ruuttila was active in many important causes—the right to unionize, voter registration, protection of the rights of the foreign-born, the Civil Rights movement, the antiwar movement and a myriad of poor peoples' struggles—her story might have been buried with her had she not caught the attention of Polishuk, a Portland State University women's studies professor. Moved by a photo of Ruuttila being dragged off by police at an antiwar demonstration in 1966, Polishuk started researching this feisty woman's life and times. From extensive interviews with Ruuttila, Polishuk assembled a first-person autobiography, intercut with amendments from family and friends. To make this account more useful for a variety of readers, Polishuk summarizes the relevant history (e.g., the rise of the AFL, splits within the CIO, the Vietnam War, etc.) at the beginning of each chapter. Fortunately, she leavens the weight of all this history with the occasional salty tale (e.g., Ruuttila's mom extorting money at gunpoint from the abortionist who'd done a bad job on Julia's abortion) and Ruuttila's openness to self-criticism. Mistakes were made, sure, but what a life! 13 b&w photos. (Dec.)

Forecast: Polishuk's book should be of interest to labor historians and scholars of women's studies. But it's also a good model of how to publish an oral history (e.g., how to verify and correct a subject's memories while remaining respectful) and could be useful to journalism students.