The history of May Day can be found in speeches and strike calls, but also in the small things people carried with them: a button pinned to a coat, a flyer passed through a crowd, a piece of paper saved long after the march ended.

At Buttons, Bagels, and Brunch, historian and archivist Isaac Silver of Buttons of the Left will share artifacts from more than a century of May Day organizing. His presentation, “Subterranean Fire: Artifacts from the Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of May Day,” traces the holiday’s roots in the labor struggles of the 1880s, its connection to the Haymarket martyrs buried at Forest Home Cemetery, and its changing place within the Left and labor movement.

May Day has served as a memorial, a political ritual and a way for working people to announce what they are still fighting for. Join us at the In These Times offices for brunch and a close look at how that tradition has been carried forward.