Anton Refregier (1905-1979) emigrated from Russia in 1920. He went to the Rhode Island School of Design as a scholarship student. After graduation, he joined an artist colony in upstate New York. He was a painter and muralist. He accomplished many pieces within the Federal Art Project of the New Deal’s Works Project Administration, the WPA.

This piece is a print taken from his mural in the Rincon Post Office in San Francisco, a gift of Reba and Dave Williams to the National Gallery in D.C. Refregier was a chronicler, creating accounts of past important events for all generations.

This progression piece, filled with warm colors and much movement, shows the two sides of the struggle and the racial aspects. It also hints at the eventual federal arbitration to justice and unionization after several months. The violence against strikers by state and local troops including the California National Guard is not pictured here. This was a hard fight with bloodshed and lives lost before eventual federal action and the winning of the landmark strike by the longshoremen.

Looking back and also forward now, may we pray that justice for the common man prevails in our times. May loving one another be our prayer and our call. Dearest God, what should we do now to follow this command and bend that eternal arc?

In gratitude, hope and faith,