The Emergence of Working Women in America’s Industrial Era
Paper 1 Topic – History of Labor and Work in the U.S. 1880-1945 – Fall 2023
Paper Question:
What was the role of women (1) in the workforce and (2) in the labor movement in the United States in the period of the 1880s through the 1920s? For question (1), did women work for wages in this period, if so, which jobs, and what were their working conditions? For (2), did they join unions, or participate in or support strikes or other workers' movements?
In several of the important strikes we are studying, such as Homestead and Pullman, women were absent from the affected workforce or played only minor roles in those union struggles. Does this mean women were not present in the workforce or labor struggles? Your task is to research the role of women as workers and in union or other workplace organizing efforts and events, then develop a thesis statement summarizing your overall conclusion, then write a paper demonstrating the evidence for that thesis.
For sources, you must use:
the textbook (Who Built America?);
AND
the Susan Levine article;
AND
at least one of these sources from later classes:
"The 'Girl Army': The Philadelphia Shirtwaist Strike of 1909-1910"
" Lawrence Textile Strike"
Four to five pages (double-spaced) - first draft due 10/4 before class. Be sure the paper is at least four pages not counting headings, etc. Upload it in Canvas as a Microsoft Word document and bring a printed copy to class for the peer review (a paper copy, not on a device). You will conduct a peer review using a Guided Peer Review document.
Your paper should have a descriptive title, an introduction, and a thesis. Each of your paragraphs should follow a logical progression and be in direct support of your argument. Support your points with specific examples from the reading assignments and videos. In the body of your paper, when citing class readings, reference the last name of the author and the page number in parentheses. For example, when citing the textbook, Who Built America?, use the following citation format: (Rozenzweig et al. p. 32)
Be sure to include a “Works Cited” page at the end of your paper (this page does not count in the total length of your paper). Examples:
Boris, E. and Lichtenstein, N. (2003). Major Problems in the History of American Workers. Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning
Rosenzweig, Roy et al. (2008). Who Built America? Working People and the Nation’s History, Volume Two: 1877 to the Present. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
There is no fixed number of required citations, but 6 to 10 citations would be reasonable for a paper of this type and length.
The Emergence of Working Women in America’s Industrial Era
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Introduction
One of the positive and most significant outcomes of the American Civil War was the emergence and unprecedented growth of industries in America; this social transformation led to the emergence of America as an industrial giant (The Library of Congress, 2023). A unique aspect of this growth of the labor class was the unprecedented profusion of working women; the inclusion of women in the labor workforce resulted from the movements demanding equal political and economic rights for women (The Library of Congress, 2023b). Because of this radical social transformation, the proportion of women increased significantly, especially between 1865 and 1920. Women's entrance into the labor force heralded a new era as they got a chance to work for longer hours and advance their careers. Several women transformed their careers from blue-collar workers to white-collar officials (Kleinberg & Kleinberg, 1999, p.105). With the growing proportion of industrial labor, American women also actively engaged in labor unions and industrial politics. Several accounts of women's participation in industrial strikes and their active role in workers' unions manifest this historical reality (Mcconnell-Sidorick, 2017). Therefore, the following discussion aims to highlight the nature and capacity of women labor in the industry and their role in workers' unions and activities.
American Labor Force: The Role of Women
The rise in the number and diversity of women's workforce in America was highly prominent between 1880 and 1910. According to a reliable estimate, the number of women in this period rose exponentially from 2.6 million to 7.8 million (The Library of Congress, 2023b). This diversification of the role of women in industries increased their representation in business and various industries; however, approximately 60% of working women were involved in domestic service. Hence, gender limitation made women's experience of economic independence distinct from men's (The Library of Congress, 2023b). Nevertheless, working women of that time did make significant contributions to the national economy.
The steady rise of working women in the American industrial sector indicated their growing importance for the country's industrial growth. Between 1840 and 1920, the proportion of industrial women increased from 15% to 24%; these women earned wages as regular workers, and this characteristic differentiated them from other women engaged in non-paying domestic jobs (Kleinberg & Kleinberg, 1999, p.105). Women's marital status also determined their role in industries as only 5% of the working women of that time were married; besides, ethnicity also played a significant role as a majority of industrial women were African Americans (Brookings, 2021). Even though these factors did influence the nature, wages, and working conditions of American women's jobs, the overall proportion of paid women workers was much higher than usual estimates.
Unlike the common perception that only a fraction of women worked in the industrial sector and got wages, the women working in domestic capacities were also paid workers. For instance, a great majority of women working in domestic environments worked as regular employees in home-based businesses (Brookings, 2021). For instance, women carried water from wells; they also transferred from the city water system; they also transported hot water from stoves in tubs and delivered it for laundry and dishes (Rosenzweig & Lichtenstein, 2008, p.84). One of the most daunting tasks that these paid women performed was to carry waste and sewage water outside and dump it away from domestic settlements (Rosenzweig & Lichtenstein, 2008, p.84). This form of manual labor was one of the most important sources of income for the American women of the nineteenth century.
Some other working opportunities for the women of that time included caring for boarders, taking in laundry, or sewing for them. In addition, in mining towns in the western regions, women used rented or owned houses to provide paid lodging to laborers (Rosenzweig & Lichtenstein, 2008, p.84). The women employed in industries were engaged in a number of blue-collar jobs; most of the industrial working women were associated with the textile industry. According to one estimate, the proportion of women in Philadelphia's textile industry was 46%; likewise, the textile industry of the Fall River had more than 50% women employees (Levine, 1983, p.324). The nature of industrial women's jobs differed significantly with the changes in local social and economic context; for instance, in Chicago, 42% of women worked as servants, while 34% of them were engaged as blue-collar workers in the clothing industry (Levine, 1983, p.324). These figures indicate the growth of working women as paid workers during the time of America's industrialization.
The working conditions, duration of work, and wages also made a significant aspect of America’s working women of this era. One of the prominent plight of women's workplace environment was the consistent abuse and calumniation from the owners and government officials (Lawrence Strike, n.d., p.272). At the domestic level, the life of working women, who were mostly Irish immigrants, was characterized by isolation and working in drudgery conditions; accor...