The Raging Erie: Life, Labor, and the Canal That Changed America

This week on Labor History Today: author Mark S. Ferrara joins labor educator Linda Donahue to explore the hidden history of the workers who built and lived along the Erie Canal. Based on Ferrara’s book The Raging Erie, the conversation uncovers the stories of Native Americans whose land was taken, immigrant laborers who carved the canal by hand, orphan children who worked as mule drivers, and the canallers who helped shape America’s expansion westward.

As the Erie Canal celebrates its 200th anniversary, this episode shines a light on the hardship, solidarity, and resistance that defined life along its banks—and the enduring legacy of labor beneath the surface of this iconic public project.

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Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.

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