Watch Bridge Culture Club discussion of ‘We Kept Our Towns Going’
Bridge Culture Club, Bridge Michigan’s bimonthly Michigan-focused book discussion series, resumed Tuesday with a discussion of “We Kept Our Towns Going: The Gossard Girls of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula” by author Phyllis Michael Wong.
Bridge and 100 readers were joined by Wong for the discussion of her historical narrative of the women who worked at the Gossard undergarment factories in Ishpeming and Gwinn and their stories. Interviews with dozens of the “Gossard Girls” and their families inform the nonfiction account of the factories’ history.
Wong discussed the process of weaving the Gossard Girls’ primary accounts into a narrative, the interview process of speaking with the Gossard employees, the economic and cultural impact of the Gossard factories on Marquette County, during their heyday and today, the place of the Gossard Girls in the Labor movement, the lasting friendships and camaraderie between the women who worked in the factories and much more.
Watch the video here:
Bridge Michigan hosts bimonthly discussions on books with ties to Michigan. Previous sessions have featured "The World According to Fannie Davis," by Bridgett M. Davis, “Arc of Justice,” by Kevin Boyle, “The Women of the Copper Country,” by Mary Doria Russell, “Black Bottom Saints,” by Alice Randall, “Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret,” by Steve Luxenberg, “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” by Dan Egan, “Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley, “Wounds” by Razel Jones and Daniel Abbott, “The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls” by Anissa Gray, “The Other Me” by Sarah Zachrich Jeng, “The Dockporter” by Dave McVeigh and Jim Bolone, “You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair is in Braids” by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang “The King of Confidence” by Miles Harvey, “What the Eyes Don’t See” by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and “American Salvage” by Bonnie Jo Campbell.
Related:
- Watch Bridge Culture Club discussion of ‘American Salvage’
- Watch Bridge Book Club discussion of ‘The King of Confidence’
- Watch Bridge discussion of ‘You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair is in Braids’
Stay tuned to Bridge Michigan for an announcement of our next Michigan-related culture club selection and the date of the next discussion in June.
More than 500 Bridge members received a free e-copy of “We Kept Our Towns Going” so they could take part in our April culture club. If you would like free electronic copies of future culture club selections, join Bridge Club today.
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