FEATURESIGNAGE DIGITAL NAME BY JEFF AUTHOR WOOTEN
THE LABOR OF
DIGITAL SIGNAGE llinois is a very rich labor state, and Reuben Soderstrom is a legend in this field of the state’s history. Not only did Soderstrom work as a newspaper man and serve twice in the state legislature, but he also spent forty years as the president of the Illinois AFL-CIO labor union organization. Soderstrom’s major accomplishments
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Sign Builder Illustrated
May 2021
were many during his Illinois AFL-CIO presidency (lasting between 1930 until his retirement in 1970). He guided the Illinois labor movement through the Depression, through the Second World War, and through the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. So when his grandson contacted current Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim
Drea and offered to donate a bronze statue of Soderstrom created by internationally famed sculptor Lonnie Steward in his honor, that reaching-out began the process of the Illinois AFLCIO deciding to build a brand-new labor history plaza at their headquarters in Springfield, Illinois with this statute prominently displayed on its grounds. signshop.com
All Photos: The Ace Sign Company.
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How digital displays tell the story of union labor in Illinois.
