Labor Education and   
Research Center

We provide education, training, events, and applied research to   
working people in Washington State.

Library

The Will Parry Library is a labor and workers rights specialty library that includes books, periodicals, movies, documentaries, pamphlets and zines. There is no charge for borrowing materials and our collection is open to the general public.

Search Our Catalog

Search our collection using the search box below; after hitting search you will be taken to a new page with the search results. You can go directly to our catalog here.

 

Materials can be held for pickup at our Georgetown office or mailed to your home or work within Washington State. 

Please select the item you'd like to checkout in the catalog, click on "Request this Book" and provide the shipping details in the "Comments" section. 

You can also request materials by email to laborcenter@seattlecolleges.edu or call us at 206-934-6671. Orders will be shipped via USPS in 1-2 business days, and a courtesy pre-prepaid return envelope included.

The Labor Center has language interpretation equipment to borrow. We currently have:

Contact us to inquire about their availability, and pickup/return is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10am and 5pm in Building B, Room 106 on South Seattle College's Georgetown Campus.

The Labor Center is committed to the pursuit of language justice within our work and our movement. We have added interpretive equipment to our library, available for loan to our community, in order to make using such equipment affordable for the labor and community organizations we serve.

Please fill out the checkout form before taking equipment out of the office.  We require that one person be responsible for inventory of the equipment leaving our office, and for ensuring that equipment comes back to us, inventoried and in good working order.

We also request that the borrowers accept responsibility for loss, theft or damage to the borrowed equipment (beyond normal wear and tear.) For more information on Language Justice initiatives in our state, consult the Washington State Immigrant and Work Justice Toolkit:  https://www.wslc.org/immigrant-toolkit/

The Will Parry Library is currently open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10am to 5pm. To visit our library outside of those hours please contact us. We are located in Building B, Room 106 of South Seattle College's Georgetown Campus. See here for directions and map.

Born in 1920, Will Parry came of age during the Great Depression. He became active in the Communist Party in Washington State as it strove to organize the poor and unemployed, and he played a vital role in the labor movement’s resurgence. After serving in the Coast Guard during World War 2, Parry stuck to his principles when he stood up to the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1954, invoking his constitutional rights when questioned about his work and his political affiliations, losing his job as a result.

Will Parry testyfing before the U.S. Congress in 1954
Photo By People's World, 1954

He struggled to find work, and was eventually hired by Longview Fibre in Seattle. There, he became a union leader, and was elected by his coworkers to be the lobbyist for their union, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. Later in life, he was among the first instructors to bring labor studies to higher education in Washington by teaching at Shoreline Community College. In Will’s retirement, he formed the Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA) and fought to protect and strengthen Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare for all generations.

Will Parry playing guitar at his retirement party
Photo By People's World, 2010

Will Parry donated his books to the Labor Center when it relocated to South Seattle College’s Georgetown Campus in 2010. His generous donation of 430 volumes almost doubled the size of our library at that time. His collection of books includes some of the greatest studies in labor and working-class history. Each book he donated contains a bookplate with an AP news photo of Will at a 1954 House Committee on Un-American Activities hearing. The pin he’s wearing says “Joe must go”—a statement against Senator Joseph McCarthy.

We at the Labor Center are grateful for Will’s donation to our library, and for his lifetime of leadership in the struggle for social justice. Will passed away on May 13, 2013, at the age of 93.

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