TCTC Learning Commons: Primary Sources: U.S. Labor

General Primary Resources in American Labor History

On this tab you'll find primary source documents related to the American labor movement. For more documents and secondary articles on this subject, see the Appendices in the Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor.

National Child Labor Committee Collection
Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Lewis Hine (1874-1940) documented working and living conditions of children in the United States between 1908 and 1924. The collection consists of the NCLC's more than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass negatives, each useful for the study of labor, reform movements, children, working class families, education, public health, urban and rural housing conditions, industrial and agricultural sites, and other aspects of urban and rural life in America in the early twentieth century.

Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor by Robert Weir and James P. Hanlan
Serving as the ideal place for students and interested readers to begin their research, this A-Z resource covers the history of organized labor in all of its complexity, from the dawn of the industrial revolution to the post-industrial age.

Descriptions and Recollections of Labor in the U.S.

Emma Goldman: Excerpts from Her Autobiography
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Eugene V. Debs: Excerpts from His Statement Upon Sentencing for Violation of the Espionage Act
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
The Lawrence Strike, 1912: Excerpt from the Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Flint Sit-Down Strike: Excerpt of 1976 Interview of Genora Johnson Dollinger
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Forty Years in a Steel Mill: Studs Terkel Interviews Steelworker Steve Dubi
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
An Insider's View of the Fair Employment Practices Committee: An Interview with Earl B. Dickerson
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Persecution of the Industrial Workers of the World: “Big Bill” Haywood's Description of the 1919 Murder of Wesley Everest
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Real-Life Rosie the Riveter: Excerpt of Augusta Clawson's Experiences as a World War II Shipyard Worker
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Stella Nowicki: Interview with a Meatpacking Plant Worker, 1973
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Terence V. Powderly: Excerpts from His Autobiography
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Voluntarism: Excerpts from Samuel Gompers's Autobiography
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Excerpts from Samuel Gompers's Testimony before a U.S. House Committee upon the Relations between Labor and Capital
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Triangle Fire: Excerpts from the March 1911 New York Times Account of the Fire and from an April 1911 Speech by Rose Schneiderman
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Sweatshops: Excerpt from Louis Levine's Description of Turn-of-the-Century Abuses in Garment-Industry Sweatshops
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Textile Workers: Excerpt of Testimony before the U.S. Senate by John Hill
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Gilded Age Social Conditions: Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee upon the Relations between Labor and Capital
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Documents from Labor Organizations

Founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL): Excerpts from the AFL Call to Action
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Eight-Hour Association: 1886 Appeal for Reduction in Working Hours
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Knights of Labor: Preamble and Platform to Their Constitution
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Coalition of Labor Union Women: Mission Statement
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Constitution: Preamble and Article II
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Life in Lowell, Massachusetts: Boarding House and Factory Rules for the Hamilton Manufacturing Company
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Grape Boycott: September 1965 Memo of Cesar Chavez
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Legislation and other Government Documents

National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Taft-Hartley Labor Relations Act
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Pullman, Illinois, a Company Town: Excerpt from U.S. Strike Commission Report on the Chicago Strikes of June and July 1894
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Pullman Strike: Another Excerpt from the U.S. Strike Commission Report
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Articles

Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902: Response to a New York Times Letter by Mine Owners Spokesman George Baer
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Black Workers after the Knights of Labor: July 1918 Article from The Messenger
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Excluding Black Workers: 1902 Letter in Locomotive Firemen's Magazine and 1929 Article by Elmer Anderson Carter inOpportunity
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Colored National Labor Union
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Comparable Worth: 1986 Minnesota Study by Sara Evans and Barbara Nelson
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Direct Action and Sabotage: Excerpt from May 1912 Article by Frank Bohn in Solidarity
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (D.R.U.M.): Excerpt of February 1971 Article in Inner-City Voice
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Forcing the Hand of the Fair Employment Practices Committee: Excerpt from November 1942 Article in Survey Graphic Magazine
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Immigrant Workers: Excerpt from a December 1881 Article by Elizabeth Buffum Chase in the Labor Standard
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Molly Maguires: Excerpts from an 1894 Article by Cleveland Moffet in McClure's Magazine
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Women in the American Federation of Labor: Excerpt from Writings of Edward O'Donnell
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Women on the Breadlines During the Depression: An Account Published by Meridel Le Sueur in New Masses
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Nonfiction

Cesar Chavez: “The Mexican-American and the Church”
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Communist Manifesto
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Fair Wages: Excerpt from John L. Lewis's The Miners' Fight for American Standards
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Principles of Scientific Management: Excerpt from Frederick Winslow Taylor's Shop Management
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Excerpts from Henry George's Progress and Poverty
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Steel Workers: Excerpt from John Fitch's The Steel Workers
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Thomas Geoghegan: Excerpt from Which Side Are You On?
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Speeches

Rerum Novarum: Excerpts from Bull Issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Social Darwinism: Excerpt from Rev. Henry Ward Beecher's “Bread-and-Water” Sermon
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Contract Examples

Indentured Servant Contract
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Yellow-Dog Contract
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
"As more and more workers banded together in unions, fearful employers sought a variety of methods to deter organization. One of the most infamous of these was the yellow-dog contract, an agreement in which a worker swore not to join a labor union as a condition of employment."
Yellow-Dog Contract in the Coal Industry
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
"The “yellow-dog contract” came to be so known because the popular saying was that it was so vile that no decent human being would even require an old yellow dog to sign such an agreement. The yellow-dog contract required workers, as a condition of employment, to agree not to join a union."

Fiction and other works

“Bread and Roses”: Poem by James Oppenheim
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
Edward Bellamy: Excerpts from Looking Backward
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
"Few novels have had as much impact on society as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. Some accounts claim that, among nineteenth-century works of fiction, only Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur sold more copies.
“Solidarity Forever”: Ralph Chaplin's American Labor Anthem
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor
“There Is Power in a Union”: A Song by Joe Hill
From Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor

Primary Sources: U.S. Labor