Labor Hall of Fame

They have them for rock 'n' roll, baseball and even inventors, so why not a Labor Hall of Fame? Founded in 1989, it's housed at the U.S. Department of Labor. Honorees have included Samuel Gompers (1989), Mother Jones (1992), Cesar Chavez (1998) and Robert Wood Johnson (2005).

DOL just announced the new inductees for 2006: the late Alfred E. Smith and the late Charles R. Walgreen Sr. Smith was progressive Democratic governor of New York from 1918 to 1920, then again from 1922 to 1928. Labor-wise Smith was perhaps best known for vice-chairing the commission that investigated factory conditions after the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.  Walgreen founded a namesake drugstore in 1901 that would become a national chain.

Rock on, labor hall of famers!