Xenophobia
In an ironic contradiction, contrary to the inscription on the Statute of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” immigrants have not historically been treated very well in the United States. Immigrants (particularly those from southern and eastern Europe) were the object of scorn by “native” Americans. The […]
Sacco and Vanzetti
After World War I and The Russian Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks (Communists) to power in Russia, there was a very strong “Red Scare” in the United States. Americans were afraid of immigrant radicals and the foreign political ideas they may have brought with them to America. People with radical political ideas were all of […]
The Rise of Labor Unions
As noted, economic conditions for immigrants and other workers in the late 1800s and early 1900s were very harsh. They worked 60-80 hours a week for an average wage of 10-12 dollars a week. Unemployment was growing; machines were replacing workers. Life expectancy was about 48 years for males and 52 years for females. (Epstein, […]
Working Conditions in Mines and Mills
From 1884 to 1912 about 43,000 miners died in accidents as result of management’s refusal to provide safe working conditions. Child labor was one of the most problematic situations in the mines. In 1901, about 6,400 boys under 14 worked in the anthracite coal mines in northeastern Pennsylvania. “Young boys labored at tasks which stunted […]
Famous Mine and Mill Strikes
The convict-lease system was a common practice in the South in the latter 1800s through the 1920s. The penal systems in the South would lease jailed convicts to the owners of mills, mines and factories—think of “chain gangs.” The system was described as the “surreptitious re-enslavement of the Negro.” (Green, Only a Miner: Studies in […]
Labor in the Textile Mills
The mining industry was not the only sector of the economy that experienced labor unrest during the first half of the 20th century. Working conditions in the textile and mill industries, in New England and in the South, primarily North and South Carolina in areas known as the Piedmont, were just as harsh as those […]
The Lawrence Mill Strike and Other Famous Mill Strikes
The most famous mill strikes of the early 20th century were the Lawrence Mill Strike in 1912 and the Marion and Gastonia Strikes of 1929. The Lawrence Mill Strike, also known as the “The Bread and Roses Strike,” occurred in January—March 1912 in the Massachusetts mill town of Lawrence. Approximately 25,000—30,000 mill workers walked off […]
The Almanac Singers
The Almanac Singers was a New York City-based folk music group, active between 1940 and 1943. They were founded by Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie. Others who were part of the ‘Alamanacs’ from time to time included Bess Lomax, Agnes “Sis” Cunningham and Josh White. It was a veritable all-star lineup. […]
Later-Day Labor Issues
Post World War II saw a surge of union activism, particularly among CIO related organizations. (Donaldson, p. 77-78.) After making what they believed to be significant sacrifices to aid the war effort, e.g. the no strike pledge, the industrial unions sought to make up lost ground, using “wildcat strikes” and other forms of labor militancy. […]
The Roaring Twenties: Cultural Rebellion and Economic Excess
Introduction The 1920s was a decade of deep cultural conflict. The decade witnessed a titanic struggle between an old and a new America. The conflicts of the 1920s were primarily cultural, pitting a developing more cosmopolitan, modernist, urban culture against the traditional more provincial, rural culture. Immigration, race, alcohol, evolution, gender politics, and sexual morality […]