The Cruikshank Chronicles; Anecdotes, Stories, and Memoirs of a New Deal Liberal
Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1989. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xii, 200, [4] pages. Presentation letter laid in. Includes Foreword by Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter. Also includes Acknowledgments, Introduction, Coda; and Index. Also includes Black and White Illustrations of Nelson H. Cruikshank; The Cruikshank family about 1903; Home Supervisor explaining the Farm and family record book; Farm Security migrant camp; Staff associated with Frank F. Fenton, Director of Organization of the American Federation of Labor about 1946; Nelson speaking on the "Town Meeting of the Air"; Nelson with William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor; Cartoon: "Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank, May I Present....''; Nelson with President Jimmy Carter; and Baby Bunting. Mr. Cruikshank crossed swords and tongues with many well-known people, and he talks animatedly about them in this oral history. Nelson Hale Cruikshank (June 21, 1902-June 19, 1986) was known nationally in the U. S. as an expert on Social Security, Medicare and policy on aging. He was a minister, labor union activist and the first director of the Department of Social Security at the AFL-CIO before entering government in his mid-60s. Cruikshank is considered the most important non-legislator responsible for the enactment of Social Security Disability Insurance in 1956, which provided Social Security benefits to people with disabilities, and of Medicare in 1965. As President Carter's adviser and counselor on the aged and as chairman of the Federal Council on Aging, Cruikshank led efforts to preserve and expand Social Security benefits for the elderly and people with disabilities. Alice M. Hoffman was an associate professor of labor history at Penn State, where she founded the Labor Archives and Oral History Project. After retiring, she taught oral history methodology at Bryn Mawr College. She was the principal consultant for the Bicentennial Labor History Exhibit for the Philadelphia Council of the AFL-CIO. She was Assistant to the Deputy Secretary for Labor and Industry for the State of Pennsylvania. From 1974 to 1976, Hoffman served as vice-president and president of the Oral History Association. She is president emeritus of the Pennsylvania Labor History Society. Hoffman received the Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region's 1985 Forrest Pogue Award for excellence in oral history. Archives of Memory: A Soldier Recalls World War II (1990) was co-authored with Hoffman's husband, a psychologist, war veteran, and interview subject. The book provided a "powerful model" for the utility of interviews and memorial evidence in historical investigations. The Hoffmans also co-edited The Cruikshank Chronicles: Anecdotes, Stories, and Memoirs of a New Deal Liberal, with a foreword by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Derived from a Publishers Weekly article: During a long, distinguished public career, Nelson Cruikshank (1902-1986) was director of the New Deal's migrant labor program, an AFL-CIO organizer-lobbyist, a leading advocate for the extension of the Social Security system and an architect of Medicare. He served as an adviser to Jimmy Carter on aging and campaigned for senior citizens' rights. Compiled from tape-recorded reminiscences by his daughter and son-in-law, this oral autobiography contains serviceable anecdotes. Cruikshank recalls his battles with the American Medical Association and with Teamsters president Dave Beck; he describes his social ministry as a Methodist pastor, which preceded his turn to politics; and tells stories featuring Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller, Arthur Goldberg, Harry Truman, Joseph McCarthy, John Kennedy and others. Condition: Very Good / Good.
Keywords: Politics and Government, Trade Unions, AFL-CIO, Farm Security, New Deal, Labor Unions, Social Security, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Seaman, Methodist Pastor, John McCurry, Dave Beck, Robert Kerr, Sam Rayburn, Arthur Goldberg, Ben Lindberg, Robe
ISBN: 0208022503
[Book #82538]
Price: $100.00