Packinghouse Daughter: A Memoir

A unique blend of memoir and public history, Packinghouse Daughter, winner of the Minnesota Book Award, tells a compelling story of small-town, working-class life. The daughter of a Wilson & Company millwright, Cheri Register recalls the 1959 meatpackers' strike that divided her hometown of Albert Lea, Minnesota. The violence that erupted when the company "replaced" its union workers with strikebreakers tested family loyalty and community stability. Register skillfully interweaves her own memories, historical research, and oral interviews into a narrative that is thoughtful and impassioned about the value of blue-collar work and the dignity of those who do it.

Merges personal memoir and public history to tell a story of family loyalty, small-town life, and working-class values in the face of a violent labor strike in 1959, weaving memory, historical research, and interviews with participants on both sides of the strike into a narrative that is thoughtful and impassioned about the value of blue- collar work and the dignity of those who do it. Register is a freelance writer and teacher of creative writing. The opening chapter of this work was cited as a "Notable Essay" in Best American Essays 1996. Lacks a subject index. 5.5x8.5". Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

This is both a bittersweet memoir of growing up in the 1950s and a history of the 1959-60 strike at Wilson & Co. Meatpacking in Albert Lea, MN. Register (Living with Chronic Illness), the introspective daughter of a union meatpacker, blends lyrical memories of nighttime Christmas shopping with hard-edged descriptions of the killing floor and the picket line. The author attended school with friends who were the children of plant managers but was well aware of the stark divide between blue- and white-collar workers during the 109-day strike and after. Today's world is more complex than the "workers vs. the rich" view she held as a girl, but Register remains loyal to the idea that ordinary people matter. Toward the end of the book she writes, "Any life has meaning which knows its connection to the world." In this memoir, Register rediscovers the bonds that give her own life meaning. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.--Duncan Stewart, State Historical Society of Iowa Lib., Iowa City Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Cheri Register often tells people her University of Chicago Ph.D. really stands for "Packinghouse Daughter." The opening chapter of Packinghouse Daughter was cited as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 1996. Other excerpts have appeared in Hungry Mind Review, University of Chicago Magazine, and the book Is Academic Feminism Dead? Her work on this memoir has earned a Jerome Travel and Study Grant, a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, and grants from the Loft Literary Center and the Minnesota Historical Society. Her other books include The Chronic Illness Experience: Embracing the Imperfect Life (formerly titled Living with Chronic Illness: Days of Patience and Passion) and "Are Those Kids Yours?": American Families with Children Adopted from Other Countries. She has published many essays in magazines, literary journals, and anthologies, and is known for her early work in feminist literary criticism and Scandinavian literature. A writer of creative nonfiction, Register now teaches writing at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she also lives.