Jack London: Famous Author Chronicled Workers’ Struggles
Though best known as the author of widely acclaimed adventure stories such as The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and To Build a Fire, Jack London also chronicled the harsh lives many working people faced at the dawn of the 20th Century.
Andrew Furuseth: 'The Abe Lincoln of the Sea’
The struggles of workers aboard commercial ships have seldom received much public attention, but some of history’s worst employment practices occurred at sea, where sailors were often subject to forced labor, brutal discipline, deplorable working...
Setting the Stage For the ‘Talent’ Unions
Among the catchphrases associated with the theatrical arts, “The Show Must Go On” is the most familiar. To workers, the phrase is more than a cliche: The longer-running the show, the more money to be earned. Nowadays, all the world’s a stage:...
Ralph Fasanella: Self-Taught Artist Chronicled Workers’ Lives
By the time he started painting pictures at age 31, Ralph Fasanella had developed a strong disdain for the social and economic injustices he witnessed every day in the streets of New York City. Over the rest of his life, the self-taught artist...
1912 Textile Strike Put Women in the Line of Fire
Early in the 20th Century, fully half of the 80,000 people living in Lawrence, MA, labored in its textile industry. The typical workplace was dimly lit, dangerously cramped with machinery, cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. Most of the...