{"id":12605,"date":"2026-09-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/?p=12605"},"modified":"2026-09-07T09:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:31:54","slug":"labor-sports-union-postcards-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/labor-sports-union-postcards-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"“Worker Athletes and Their Friends”: Labor Sports Union Postcards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Greg Bond, Sports Archivist and Curator, Joyce Sports Research Collection <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In honor of Labor Day, Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to highlight the recent acquisition of a set of real-photo postcards documenting the 1928 Labor Sports Union’s (LSU) second annual “Labor Sports Olympics” held in Brooklyn, New York. Sponsored by the Communist Party of the United States, the Labor Sports Union brought together working-class, labor-union, and other left-wing sporting organizations that promoted physical activity to build camaraderie among workers, improve the physical health of laborers, and offer a more inclusive alternative to mainstream profit-seeking capitalist sports ventures. The Labor Sports Union Athletic Meet Postcards Collection<\/a> (MSSP 10181) includes 10 images of participants in the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An article in the August 16, 1928, edition of the Daily Worker<\/em>, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the United States, described the coming athletic meet. The \u201cworker athletes and their friends\u201d in the Labor Sports Union, the newspaper recounted, \u201cshowed a spirit of cooperation that cannot be found in the bourgeois organizations\u201d like the \u201cAmateur Athletic Union, the official capitalist sport organization\u201d (1<\/a>). The Daily Worker<\/em> reported that more than 650 athletes from 70 affiliated athletic clubs and 24 cities were represented at Brooklyn\u2019s Wingate Field. (2<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Labor Sports Union intentionally opened its athletic events to all worker athletes and welcomed the participation of non-white and women athletes at a time when many sporting organizations had more restrictive rules. The Labor Sports Olympics included more than thirty track and field and swimming competitions for men, women, and children; a soccer tournament; and a mass drill exercise. The Daily Worker<\/em> reported that \u201cwomen and junior athletes, turning out in unprecedented numbers, contributed largely to the colorful pageant quality of the huge sports meet.\u201d (3<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Participants in the men\u2019s 200 meter race at the 1928 LSU Labor Sports Olympics. Arthur Kirton is probably standing second from the left (MSSP10181-01).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the stars of the competition was Arthur Kirton, an African-American runner from Brooklyn. Kirton captured first place in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and the Daily Worker<\/em> described Kirton as the \u201coutstanding sprint performer of the Labor Sports Olympics\u201d (4<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the interwar years, the Communist Party was at the forefront of attacking racial segregation, and the Labor Sports Union actively sought to provide opportunities for Black athletes. The constitution and principles of the organization affirmed that \u201cthe Labor Sports Union is unalterably opposed to race prejudice and separation in sports.\u201d Before the 1928 meet, the Amsterdam News<\/em>, a local New York Black newspaper, reported that \u201cfar from putting up any restrictions against the participation of Negro athletes in its athletic meets, the Labor Sports Union is making special efforts to secure entries from colored sports clubs.\u201d (5<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the event, Arthur Kirton, described his experiences at the Labor Sports Olympics for the Amsterdam News<\/em>: \u201cI found the audience very agreeable and undiscriminatory in their ways of paying tribute to the participants regardless of color or creed.\u201d And, he elaborated, the meet organizers were \u201cparticularly courteous in seeing that I was perfectly comfortable.\u201d (6<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Participants in the men\u2019s 200 meter race at the 1928 LSU Labor Sports Olympics. Arthur Kirton is probably standing second from the right (MSSP10181-02).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 1928 Labor Sports Olympics also featured numerous events for women athletes, including track & field and swimming competitions. The relay team from Sisu, a Finnish-American athletic club in Worcester, Massachusetts, won the women\u2019s 4X100-meter relay. \u201cSisu,\u201d a Finnish word translated as stoic determination or tenacity of purpose, was a common name for Finnish-American sporting clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Members of the victorious women\u2019s 4X100-meter relay team from Sisu at the 1928 LSU Labor Sports Olympics. Pencil notations on the back indicate that Esther Allen and Sigrid Mentukoski stand on the left (MSSP10181-08).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Paul Ahola, nicknamed the \u201cFlying Finn,\u201d was the only athlete featured on his own postcard in this collection. A recent high school graduate from Jamaica, New York, Ahola performed well in many events and won the discus and javelin throws.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Paul Ahola won first prize in the men’s javelin throw at the 1928 LSU Labor Sports Olympics (MSSP10181\u201110).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Most of the competitions at the LSU meet were individual events, but the program also included a soccer tournament. During the 1920s, the Labor Sports Union sponsored Workers Soccer Leagues in many large cities, and the New York-area featured particularly vibrant competitions. The postcard collection contains one image of the \u201cHungarian Soccer League\u201d team that competed in the Labor Sports Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Hungarian Soccer League Team at the 1928 LSU Labor Sports Olympics (MSSP10181\u201109).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Labor Sports Union Athletic Meet Postcards Colle<\/a>ction is open and available to researchers. Rare Books and Special Collections welcomes donations of additional materials documenting the long history of workers and labor union sports organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

(1<\/a>) \u201cHold Labor Sports Olympics August 25,\u201d Daily Worker<\/em> 16 August 1928, p. 4
(2<\/a>) \u201c650 Athletes at Big Labor Sport Meet Today,\u201d Daily Worker<\/em> 25 August 1928, p. 1.
(3<\/a>) \u201cMany Records Fall at Labor Sports Meet,\u201d Daily Worker<\/em> 28 August 1928, p.1
(4<\/a>) \u201cMany Records Fall at Labor Sports Meet,\u201d Daily Worker<\/em> 28 August 1928, p.1
(5<\/a>) \u201cSports Union to Stage Meet,\u201d [New York] Amsterdam News<\/em> 22 August 1928, p. 7.
(6<\/a>) Arthur Kirton, \u201cSports Union Meet, [New York] Amsterdam News<\/em> 29 August 1928, p. 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

For further reading:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gabe Logan, “Playing for the People: Labor Sport Union Athletic Clubs in the Lake Superior\/Iron Range 1927-1936<\/a>,” Upper Country: A Journal of the Lake Superior Region<\/em>: Vol. 4 (2016), Article 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabe Logan, “C’mon, You Reds: The U.S. Communist Party’s Workers’ Soccer Association, 1927\u201335<\/a>.” Journal of Sport History 44, no. 3 (2017): 384-398.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

RBSC is closed Monday, September 7th, for Labor Day.<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Previous Labor Day Posts:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

2025: Reading Sport Call<\/em>, the Official Organ of the Workers\u2019 Sports League, for Labor Day
<\/a>2024: Labor Day 2024 \u2013 Perspectives from the Catholic Pamphlet Collection<\/a>
2023: Souvenirs from the Union Printers National Baseball League Tournament<\/a>
2020: Labor and Linen \u2014 The Prints of William Hincks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of Labor Day, Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to highlight the recent acquisition of a set of real-photo postcards documenting the 1928 Labor Sports Union’s (LSU) second annual “Labor Sports Olympics” held in Brooklyn, New York. Sponsored by the Communist Party of the United States, the Labor Sports Union brought together … Continue reading “Worker Athletes and Their Friends”: Labor Sports Union Postcards<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1936,"featured_media":12628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72244,12646,75063,75052],"tags":[77948,77931,75749],"class_list":["post-12605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-miscellaneous","category-sports-research","category-us-history-culture","tag-otd-holidays","tag-printed-ephemera","tag-recent-acquisitions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1936"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12605"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12642,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12605\/revisions\/12642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}