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Collection: Jewish Women's Archive

Group of striking women-shirtwaist workers in New York City, circa 1909.
View: Uprising of 20,000 (1909)

On November 23, 1909, more than 20,000 Yiddish-speaking immigrants, mostly young women in their teens and early twenties, launched an eleven-week general strike in New York’s shirtwaist industry. Dubbed the Uprising of the 20,000, it was the largest strike by women to date in American history.