"Life in the Shop": The Story of an Immigrant Garment Worker
Clara Lemlich ignited the 1909 walkout of shirtwaist makers with her call for a general strike. This piece was first published in the New York Evening Journal, November 28, 1909.
"OSHA at Forty"
This short article by public health historians David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz reflects on the fortieth anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, passed in 1970. OSHA is one of the most important pieces of labor legislation ever [...]
Description of Sharecropping
This short essay describes the sharecropping system that supported the agricultural economy of the South after slavery.
Background Essay on Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl
This essay explains the significance of young female immigrants in the labor upheavals that helped define the Progressive Era.
"To Increase Common Labor Supply with Porto Ricans"
With the passage of the Jones-Shafroth Act in 1917, Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States. At the same time, penetration of the island by American-backed sugar interests displaced thousands of rural inhabitants, pushing them into a wage [...]
Background Essay on Early Twentieth Century Mexican Immigration to the U.S.
This essay outlines the reasons for Mexican immigration to the United States during the early part of the twentieth century as well as the issues immigrants confronted in their new home.