Of Wobblies and White Castle

So maybe I am an idiot or something, but somehow I only recently became aware that the world headquarters of the Industrial Workers of the World - the Wobblies - is in my neighborhood! Right on the main drag in Northside, in good ole Cincinnati. That's right, those who have inherited the mantle of radical industrial unionism from Socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, hell raising mine organizer Mother Jones, and legendary Big Bill Haywood have set up their center of operations on Knowlton's Corner - across the street from a White Castle burger joint.

I am shocked by this revelation for several reasons. I have waited for the campus-bound number 17 bus within a few feet of the Wobblies front door countless times; Knowlton's Corner is a hub where four Metro lines converge. I had observed the modest storefront many times, read the signs on the windows - including the IWW constitution, and wondered about what they were actually up to these days. I remember when I first noticed the IWW office there on Hamilton and Hoffner, about three or four years ago. I mentioned it to a classmate who was leading the International Socialist Organization on campus, and he was equally unfamiliar with the local Wobblies. I was really intrigued that they still existed (I plead political ignorance if any Wobblies are reading this) and wondered what they were up to these days. I, like most Americans, could only associate them with grainy black and white photographs reminiscent of the Haymarket Massacre, Ellis Island, and early twentieth century labor unrest.

Also I am really shocked that the IWW has chosen to set up its world headquarters in Cincinnati. After all they were founded in Chicago in 1905, and the Windy City has a much longer and more complex history of labor organizing than Cincinnati. I read the IWW website and it seemed like most of their activity is concentrated in California and big cities far from the Ohio River. In the global mart of information and imagery Cincinnati is known mostly for being conservative, unimportant, and obscure. We show up in the film Rain Main as a place intended to contrast Tom Cruise's racy lifestyle of success when he has to come pick up his retarded brother. Beloved transvestite stand-up comic Eddie Izzard mentions Cincinnati in his amazing Dress to Kill, but only as a place most viewers think is really far away from everything. We are also known for our race riots and that cow that escaped the stockyards and ran free for a few weeks before being captured in a public park. Populated mostly by conservative German Catholics who oppose pretty much everything besides lower taxes, Hudepohl beer, and the debatably-fabulous local-style chili, Cincinnati is not known for its progressiveness - much less radicalism.

So I am wondering - what gives?