Smash the Color Line: Interracial Working-Class Solidarity in 19th and 20th Century Maryland
Presented by Alexis Cathcart
From Reconstruction through the mid-20th century, Black and white workers—caulkers, dockworkers, and steelworkers—built fragile but powerful alliances that challenged racial segregation and economic inequality. Historian Alexis Cathcart highlights examples of interracial working-class solidarity in Baltimore, showing how shared material conditions and global movements from socialism to communism impacted local labor fights.
Alexis Cathcart is a PhD candidate in history at Morgan State University whose dissertation addresses Black southern migrants and radical politics in the 20th century. Her work has appeared in both scholarly journals and popular outlets.
