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Things I like: suffragettes, war workers, factory girls, socialites who got stuff done, ladies who ruled countries, and women who changed the world, even if it was just a little bit. Click on photos for sources.

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"By the eleventh minute of the fire—the sixth minute of the nightmare on the ninth floor—only two escape routes remained, and they, too, would be gone in thirty or sixty or ninety seconds more. To survive at this point required decisiveness, a sudden burst of action, and good luck, which was a vanishing commodity."

—

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

Today is the 102nd anniversary of the Triangle Factory fire in which 146 women died.

wnyc:

Former New York State Senator Serf Maltese talks about how grandmother and her two daughters — ages 14 and 18 — were among the 146 who died in the fast-moving blaze that engulfed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on March 25, 1911.

"People survived thanks to a short head start, or a seat assignment near an exit, or by following the right mad rush in one direction or another—or by ignoring the wrong mad rush. They survived by acting a bit more quickly, or boldly, or brutally. But the truth is most people working on the ninth floor that day did not survive at all."

— Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle
There are over 100 million migrant workers in China today.  Many of these workers are young women who have left their rural homes to work in factories.  The hours are long and the pay is low, so young women job hop often, hoping to find better conditions elsewhere. To show how this mass movement is transforming China, Leslie T. Chang focuses on two girls, Min and Chunming, who work in Dongguan.  Beyond the challenges of factory life, they also struggle to maintain friendships and romantic relationships.  Living in such a transitory world, the loss of a mobile phone can mean the loss of an entire social network. About a fourth of the book describe’s the author’s own Chinese American family history, but the modern segments held my interest more as I am always interested in the lives of women during periods of social change.  This book fills in the gaps left by news stories on the industrialization of China by exploring the lives of the young women who keep factories going. Factory Girls on Amazon

There are over 100 million migrant workers in China today.  Many of these workers are young women who have left their rural homes to work in factories.  The hours are long and the pay is low, so young women job hop often, hoping to find better conditions elsewhere.

To show how this mass movement is transforming China, Leslie T. Chang focuses on two girls, Min and Chunming, who work in Dongguan.  Beyond the challenges of factory life, they also struggle to maintain friendships and romantic relationships.  Living in such a transitory world, the loss of a mobile phone can mean the loss of an entire social network.

About a fourth of the book describe’s the author’s own Chinese American family history, but the modern segments held my interest more as I am always interested in the lives of women during periods of social change.  This book fills in the gaps left by news stories on the industrialization of China by exploring the lives of the young women who keep factories going.

Factory Girls on Amazon

fuckyeahlatinamericanhistory: United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama today. Said the president, ”Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan, Si, se puede. Yes, we can. Knowing her, I’m pleased that she let me off easy— because Dolores does not play.”

fuckyeahlatinamericanhistory:

United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama today. Said the president, ”Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan, Si, se puede. Yes, we can. Knowing her, I’m pleased that she let me off easy— because Dolores does not play.”

(via fylatinamericanhistory)

"The most prevailing incentive to labor was to secure the means of education for some male member of the family. To make a gentleman of a brother or a son, to give him a college education, was the dominant thought in the minds of a great many of the better class of mill­girls. I have known more than one to give every cent of her wages, month after month, to her brother, that he might get the education necessary to enter some profession. I have known a mother to work years in this way for her boy. I have known women to educate young men by their earnings, who were not sons or relatives. There are many men now living who were helped to an education by the wages of the early mill­girls."

— Harriet Hanson Robinson, the wife of a newspaper editor and Lowell Mill Girl from the age of ten in 1834 to 1848.

(Source: fordham.edu)

Newsgirl, Park Row NYC, 1910.

Newsgirl, Park Row NYC, 1910.

"Kate Alterman chose the fiery race to the roof. She pulled her coat up around her face and moved towards the blaze. As she hurried, stumbling, across the room, she saw people catching fire around her. She looked down to find her pocketbook was burning in her hands. Passing the examining tables, Alterman grabbed a few unburned garments and tried to cover her head. The flames were closing around the doorway, and someone grabbed Alterman’s dress to hold her back. ‘I kicked her with my foot and I don’t know what became of her.’"

— Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle 
As I mentioned earlier, today is the 101st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.  I’m also recommending Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle.   Until September 11, 2001, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was the worst workplace disaster in the history of New York City.  Almost 150 women died in a matter of minutes while crowds outside watched.  Teenage girls threw themselves out of windows knowing they were too high up for the nets to catch them because they didn’t want to burn to death.   It was a pivotal moment for the labor movement.   Dozens of safety regulations were adopted in New York City and other industrial hubs following the disaster.   Several comments on my earlier post noted that the building now belongs to NYU, but NYU students also played a role in helping workers escape the fire.  NYU law students were able to help some of the lucky few who made it to the roof cross over into safety. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is one of the non-fiction books I recommend to people who don’t generally like non-fiction.  After the stage is set describing the conditions of the factory and the situation of the factory workers, the book is pretty fast paced, describing how split second decisions led to life and death outcomes.  It isn’t as in depth a look at organized labor as it could be, but Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is compelling reading, particularly if you’re interested in the labor movement, the history of New York City, or Jewish and Italian immigration. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America on Amazon

As I mentioned earlier, today is the 101st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.  I’m also recommending Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle.  

Until September 11, 2001, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was the worst workplace disaster in the history of New York City.  Almost 150 women died in a matter of minutes while crowds outside watched.  Teenage girls threw themselves out of windows knowing they were too high up for the nets to catch them because they didn’t want to burn to death.  

It was a pivotal moment for the labor movement.   Dozens of safety regulations were adopted in New York City and other industrial hubs following the disaster.  

Several comments on my earlier post noted that the building now belongs to NYU, but NYU students also played a role in helping workers escape the fire.  NYU law students were able to help some of the lucky few who made it to the roof cross over into safety.

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is one of the non-fiction books I recommend to people who don’t generally like non-fiction.  After the stage is set describing the conditions of the factory and the situation of the factory workers, the book is pretty fast paced, describing how split second decisions led to life and death outcomes.  It isn’t as in depth a look at organized labor as it could be, but Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is compelling reading, particularly if you’re interested in the labor movement, the history of New York City, or Jewish and Italian immigration.

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America on Amazon

Demonstration of protest and mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, April 1911. Today is the 101st anniversary of the fire.  

Demonstration of protest and mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, April 1911.

Today is the 101st anniversary of the fire.  

riversidearchives:

40 days to 1940 Census

no. 6

Labor unions gained strength among Mexican workers during the Great Depression. In 1933 and 1934, the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) was involved in a large strike among the needle trade workers of Los Angeles. They had focused on organizing, not only European immigrant women, but Mexican and Mexican-American women. They published bilingual materials to attract the women and gain support in the Mexican community. The Federal government’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) became involved in trying to bring the workers and factory owners together for mediation.

Decorating the tree at a Christmas Eve party given by Local 203 of the United Federal Workers of America, Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in Washington, DC 1943

Decorating the tree at a Christmas Eve party given by Local 203 of the United Federal Workers of America, Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in Washington, DC

1943

Lowel factory girls at the Women’s National Trade Union League Pageant May 8, 1928

Lowel factory girls at the Women’s National Trade Union League Pageant

May 8, 1928

Lowell - Portuguese mill girls Thirty miles from Boston, Lowell, Massachusetts was a major site in the US Industrial Revolution and a particularly important site in the history of female labor.  Beginning with the opening of the Merrimack factory in 1823, Lowell was transformed from a farming community into an industrial hub of 32 mills employing approximately 8,000 workers.  The majority of mill employees were young women between 16 and 35 who often worked only a few years in the mills before marrying. The original Lowell Mill Girls were American born women from New England farm towns.  The hours were long compared to other factories of the era and workers lived in factory owned boarding houses.  Educational and organizing opportunities began to develop within the mostly female community.  With the help of a local minister, the girls began to publish the Lowell Offering, a monthly compendium of creative writing and journalism written by the Mill Girls.  The Lowell Mill Girls went on strike twice during the 1830s in response to wage cuts.  Although both strikes were quickly broken, they showed the determination of the Mill Girls.  In the 1840s, the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association was formed to petition the Massachusetts state legislature for a 10 hour work day.  Although they were again unsuccessful as the legislature did not feel they should interfere with the regulation of private industry, the Lowell Mill Girls were an active force in the labor movement of the early industrial age, forming connections with other labor groups. Expansions in the Lowell textile industry and difficulty recruiting workers for such a low wage job led to a diversification of the Lowell workforce.  From the 1840s through the 1860s, Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine were the largest group of mill workers.  As Irish immigrants moved upwards, French-Canadian, Greek, Polish, Jewish, Armenian and Portuguese immigrants took their places at the mill. Technical improvements in other mills lead to a slow shut down of Lowell mills in the 1920s and 1930s with the last mill closing in the 1950s.  Today, the Lowell Mills are part of the National Park system.  The student newspaper at UMass- Lowell is named the Lowell Offering in honor of the Lowell Mill Girls.  

Lowell - Portuguese mill girls

Thirty miles from Boston, Lowell, Massachusetts was a major site in the US Industrial Revolution and a particularly important site in the history of female labor.  Beginning with the opening of the Merrimack factory in 1823, Lowell was transformed from a farming community into an industrial hub of 32 mills employing approximately 8,000 workers.  The majority of mill employees were young women between 16 and 35 who often worked only a few years in the mills before marrying.

The original Lowell Mill Girls were American born women from New England farm towns.  The hours were long compared to other factories of the era and workers lived in factory owned boarding houses.  Educational and organizing opportunities began to develop within the mostly female community.  With the help of a local minister, the girls began to publish the Lowell Offering, a monthly compendium of creative writing and journalism written by the Mill Girls.  The Lowell Mill Girls went on strike twice during the 1830s in response to wage cuts.  Although both strikes were quickly broken, they showed the determination of the Mill Girls.  In the 1840s, the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association was formed to petition the Massachusetts state legislature for a 10 hour work day.  Although they were again unsuccessful as the legislature did not feel they should interfere with the regulation of private industry, the Lowell Mill Girls were an active force in the labor movement of the early industrial age, forming connections with other labor groups.

Expansions in the Lowell textile industry and difficulty recruiting workers for such a low wage job led to a diversification of the Lowell workforce.  From the 1840s through the 1860s, Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine were the largest group of mill workers.  As Irish immigrants moved upwards, French-Canadian, Greek, Polish, Jewish, Armenian and Portuguese immigrants took their places at the mill.

Technical improvements in other mills lead to a slow shut down of Lowell mills in the 1920s and 1930s with the last mill closing in the 1950s.  Today, the Lowell Mills are part of the National Park system.  The student newspaper at UMass- Lowell is named the Lowell Offering in honor of the Lowell Mill Girls.  

Catherine Young with nine of her eleven children.  Five of the children pictured worked with their mother in the Tifton (GA) Cotton Mill.  Photo by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee, 1909. Joe Manning has extensively researched every member of the Young family.  His research shows how turn of the century issues influenced the lives of real people: child labor laws, unfair factory pay, the lack of a government security net and the devastating impact widowhood could have on a family.  Three months after this photo was taken, seven of these children were left at an orphanage by their mother who was no longer able to care for them.  Follow the link to read more about Catherine’s background and the adult lives of her children.

Catherine Young with nine of her eleven children.  Five of the children pictured worked with their mother in the Tifton (GA) Cotton Mill.  Photo by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee, 1909.

Joe Manning has extensively researched every member of the Young family.  His research shows how turn of the century issues influenced the lives of real people: child labor laws, unfair factory pay, the lack of a government security net and the devastating impact widowhood could have on a family.  Three months after this photo was taken, seven of these children were left at an orphanage by their mother who was no longer able to care for them.  Follow the link to read more about Catherine’s background and the adult lives of her children.