ATU Preserving Over A Century of Transit Labor History for New Headquarters
Behind every transit worker clocking in before dawn, every strike line held in the cold and rain, and every contract won at the bargaining table is a story. ATU International is making sure those stories don’t disappear.
A New Home for our History
International President John Costa recently visited the History Factory in downtown Washington, D.C., for a creative workshop that marks a major step in one of the ATU’s most ambitious undertakings with a permanent exhibit that will preserve and showcase ATU’s history as we prepare to relocate to our new headquarters at the historic 21 Dupont Circle.
“Our members have been on the front lines of the labor movement for generations,” Costa said. “We’re making sure our decades of organizing, advocacy, and wins for transit workers and the labor movement don’t just live in filing cabinets. Our stories deserve to be told, and we’re committed to telling them.”
Digging into the Archives
The meeting brought together International Executive Vice President Yvette Trujillo, International Secretary-Treasurer Ken Kirk, former ATU General Counsel Robert Molofsky, and key ATU staff to dig into the creative direction for the project. During the workshop, the group reviewed archival materials spanning more than a century, from early editions of the Motorman and Conductor, the publication that helped organize transit workers across North America, to photographs documenting pivotal moments in our Union’s history.
Among the collection is a wooden club used by the Minnesota Home Guards against workers during the 1917 Street Railway Strike, a reminder of the violence transit workers faced and ultimately overcame to build our Union. It’s exactly the kind of artifact that has the power to stop visitors in their tracks and connect the present to the past.
Telling the Full Story
The team also walked through storytelling frameworks for the exhibit, exploring how ATU’s narrative can center the personal struggles of individual members and Locals alongside the ATU’s larger wins and cultural legacy. Our history room will be a dynamic, immersive space built to tell that full story.
As ATU writes the next chapter of our history from 21 Dupont Circle, this project ensures the chapters that came before are never forgotten.
More updates coming soon.