Charles Walker’s ‘civic history’ of Minneapolis centered on the experience of the 1934 Teamsters’ strike.

‘…A large section of the biography has been devoted to the delineation of a single event of recent history, the general truck drivers’ strikes of 1934 which paralyzed the city’s life. I make no apology for this emphasis. Frequently more can be learned of the character of an individual, a class, or a community in a few hours of crisis than in a lifetime of routine living. I believe this singularly true of the dramatic episode in question. The strikes’ unparalleled scope and violence— compared with any other labor war of recent years in the Northwest—suggest that their roots were neither shallow nor recent. Further study reveals them inseparably interwoven with the whole fabric of the city’s economy and its history…’ from the Introduction.

American City; A Rank-and-File History by Charles R. Walker. Farrar & Rinehart, New York. 1937.

Contents: Introduction, American City, The Golden Age of Economic Empire Fate of the Rank-and-File Empire Builders, Political Revolt and the War, The Farmer-Labor Party in Power, 1934: City of Tension, The First Challenge, Battle in the Streets, Personal Lives, Civil War in July, Three Citizens and the Fate of a City, Truce between the Past and the Present, Everyday Life, The Dynamo of Change, Crossroads. Illustrated, 277 pages.

PDF of original book: https://archive.org/download/americancityrank00walk/americancityrank00walk.pdf