A new Cornell University Library exhibit will examine how clothing protects workers — and how climate change is altering the risks they face on farms, at factories and at construction sites. “Weathering the Storm: The Role of Labor in an Era of Climate Change” opens Oct. 8 at the Catherwood Library in Ithaca.
The Cornell announcement says an opening reception is scheduled for 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the library in the university's ILR School. The exhibit is slated to remain on view through August 2027.
Displays will bring together historical photographs, environmental reports and work clothing from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. Garments and accessories from the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection will appear alongside those records, with pieces selected by students in a project-management class.
Among the materials is the red bandana, which has carried different meanings across U.S. labor history. Cornell curator Marcie Farwell pointed to its use by striking coal miners in the early 1900s and as a head covering associated with the wartime “Rosie the Riveter” image. A 1937 photograph of Arkansas cotton farmers is also part of the exhibit.
Catherine Kueffer Blumenkamp, an assistant teaching professor in human-centered design, worked with Farwell on the exhibit. Blumenkamp said the displays explore how clothing designed for labor can later enter fashion; denim is one example.
The exhibit also looks at the environmental advocacy of Theodore W. Kheel, the labor mediator for whom the Kheel Center is named. Cornell says he promoted the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
“Weathering the Storm” is part of a university library exhibit series called “From the Brink,” focused on contributions to a sustainable future. The opening reception offers a chance to see the materials and the students' selections before the longer run continues through next summer.
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