Stories of women and children working in Southern mills in the late 1800's. Poor wages and poor working conditions are commonplace throughout this recounting by Mother Jones in 1901.

This very complete lesson plan from the New York State Library uses newspaper accounts to give a "you are there" feeling to the discussion of the Railroad Strike of 1877. Included are a history of the strike, student activities,...

A good review of the Western Federation of Miners and its actions in Colorado in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Find out why the organization was seen to have socialist leanings.

Read the gripping testimony of an immigrant girl who testified before a U.S. Congressional committee detailing the conditons in the textile mill in which she worked. Because of these unsafe working conditions, the textile workers...

The violent strike in Cripple Creek, Colorado, pitted the Western Federation of Miners against the mine owners. Read these statements by the two organizations giving their views of what happened in that conflict.

Site presents the statement given by August Spies, who was convicted and hanged for his role in the Haymarket Square riot.

Katherine Paterson writes historical fiction for middle school aged students. This book on the Bread and Roses strike includes good factual information about the strike woven into a personal story. This teacher's guide is a handy...

A good summary of the establishment of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the reasons why John L. Lewis founded it. Read about the roadblocks unskilled and semi-skilled labor overcame to organize.

An essay dedicated to Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor, written by Emma Goldman and published in 1925.

Read about how President Roosevelt used his presidential powers to prohibit labor strikes during World War II. Scroll to page 4 of this PDF to read this background information which is part of a discussion about President Truman's...

A short, easy-to-understand biography of Mother Jones (1837-1930 CE) who was active in union and labor movements.

College student paper outlines the Wagner Act and the National Labor Relations Board set up by that act which addresses union collective bargaining and secret-ballot elections.

Samuel Gompers, master organizer, had a vision of a national union that would have economic clout, but would steer clear of politics. Read about his organization of skilled workers in craft unions under the banner of the American...

See a picture of soldiers parading down the street in Gary, Indiana, during the Great Steel Strike of 1919. A quote from union leadership explains the reasons behind the strike.

Find out about a Chinese immigrant who, after laboring on the Central Pacific Railroad, became a wealthy miner in Colorado. From the Colorado Historical Society.

A brief biography of Terence Powderly, formative leader of the Knights of Labor, as well as an official in the Bureau of Immigration.

This resource presents a brief history of AFL-CIO leader George Meany.

Resource provides an overview of the codes set by the National Recovery Administration that helped industry and labor in the 1930s and their positive and negative affects.

Stories of Ukrainian workers and their struggles to fight for good working conditions as the country tries to break away from its communist past. (Date of Article: March 2004)

Examine this political cartoon that looks at welfare capitalism and how companies used it to keep workers from establishing unions.

An interesting article about the strike against the Little Steel companies in Ohio in 1937. It describes the use of the sit-down strike by the unionized steel workers.

Read about the dangers of coal mining in Pennsylvania, the emergence of unions in an attempt to protect the miners, and some of the mining disasters that took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Read about the variations between socialist, social democratic and labor parties across 18 countries in the early twentieth century. Taking an inside look at case studies, there was a political emergence of the bourgeoisie and an...

Senator Joseph McCarthy did not create the national obsession with communist subversion. It had arisen in the late 1930s, years before McCarthy had come to public notice. Angry that they had been barred from the corridors of power for 20...