A gallery of photos to explore.
John L. Lewis was born February 12th 1880, to Welsh immigrant parents in the coal mining camp of Cleveland, Iowa- one mile East of Lucas, Iowa. He began working in the Big Hill Coal Mine in Lucas, IA as a teenager, joining the UMWA Local #799 in 1900. He began his rise to power in the United Mine Workers of America and served as President of the UMWA for forty years and was founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History. Its legacy lives on today in the struggles faced by modern miners seeking workers’ rights
As early as the 1830s, many U.S. states had enacted laws restricting or prohibiting the employment of young children in industrial settings. However, in rural communities where child labor on the farm was common, employment of children in mills and factories did not arouse much…
The Barre Historical Society is the historical society for the City of Barre, Vermont. It is the owner of two historic buildings, the Socialist Labor Party Hall National Historic Landmark and the Union Cooperative Store bakery building, being restored as the Rise Up Bakery.
In 1907, Grace Strachan, a school principal and leader of New York’s Interborough Association of Women Teachers (IAWT), explained the significance of the organized teachers’ campaign. “I don’t think any of us are working simply for our own interests,” she offered.
Through the Montana Memory Project, the Montana Historical Society has created a rich archive of hundreds of interviews detailing the history of workers in key industries in Montana. The interviews capture the stories of laborers, labor leadership, and support industry workers, from the expansion in…
