Scholarship Program Asks Students to Think About Working Family Issues

by Mike Hall, Feb 26, 2007

Union history and labor unions’ place in today’s work world may be getting short shrift in the nation’s classrooms, but students who take the initiative to learn about the union movement past and present might be able to parlay that knowledge into a college scholarship. Todd Iverson, president of America in Solidarity, sent us this piece on the unique Ottilie Markholt Memorial Scholarship program. The program is open to residents of the United States planning to attend accredited colleges and universities in the United States.

America in Solidarity, a Tacoma, Wash.-based working families’ advocacy group, is offering a minimum of $4,000 in college scholarships for the third year as part of its Ottilie Markholt Memorial Scholarship program. Markholt passed away in 2004 but spent many of her 89 years fighting for unions as a labor activist, leader, writer and longtime member of the Pierce County (Wash.) Central Labor Council.

Last year, more than 200 students applied for the scholarships. Part of the process involves writing a three-to-five page essay describing why America still needs labor unions, profiling a labor leader or highlighting the conditions currently facing working families.

The scholarship program enables us to honor the great influence Markholt had on labor and gives us the opportunity to engage young people on the issues affecting working families.

Click here for more information and applications for the 2007 scholarship. Applications are due by April 15.