Labor History Commons^™

William R. Riley, Richard L. Davis, The United Mine Workers, And The Negotiation Of Race And Class In Southern Appalachia, Jameson Hannah

Honors Theses

The decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century were a time of immense upheaval as the United States went through an intensive process of industrialization, ensuing waves of economic instability, and large-scale human migration. In response, many activists and reformers emerged, particularly in the world of civil rights and labor organizing. William R. Riley and Richard L. Davis, who were both coal miners and organizers within the United Mine Workers of America, worked at the intersection of both of these worlds during that time period. This research deals with the writings of these two men in depth, seeking to …

The Congress Of Industrial Organizations: Operation Dixie And A Legacy Of Worker Activism, Trevor G. Porter

Honors Theses

Trevor George Porter: The Congress of Industrial Organizations: Operation Dixie and a Legacy of Worker Activism (Under the Direction of Dr. Jarod Roll)

The passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 overhauled United States labor law, and it shifted the balance of power in favor of organized labor. Seizing upon this monumental moment in history, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was founded with a mandate to “organize the unorganized”. The labor federation made its primary focus the mass production workers of America, many of whom had not previously been afforded the opportunity to join a union. This …

Indentured On The Western Front: The Chinese Labour Corps And The British Coolie Trade, Emily Sanders

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the recruitment, transport, and working conditions of the Chinese Labour Corps in World War I in comparison to the twentieth century British ‘coolie’ trade of Chinese indentured laborers on the basis of labor contracts, written testimonies, newspaper articles, books, photographs, and historical records. This thesis argues that the Chinese Labour Corps methods of recruiting, transport, and conditions of work were very similar to, if not the same as, the twentieth century British coolie trade. The Chinese Labour Corps can in many ways be said to be an extension of the preexisting British coolie trade, rather than an …

Bread And Repression, Too: The Battle For Labor’S Memory And The Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912, Andrew Hubbard

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the historiography of the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912 as representative of a larger trend of repression of American labor narratives. It draws from oral history accounts, news coverage and analysis from 1912, resources at the Lawrence History Center collected throughout the city’s process of memorialization, secondary historical accounts of the event, and formative works of labor history.

The first chapter introduces the American labor narrative, the history of repression by authority, the efforts of labor historians to memorialize suppressed history, and the role that monuments, historians, and popular fictional accounts play in the formation …

Unionization And Income Inequality: The Impact Of Labor Union Participation On Income Inequality In The United States, Terence Finnigan

Honors Theses

Using Current Population Survey data in the period from 1996 -2011, this paper analyzes the relationship between labor union participation and income inequality in each of the 50 U.S. states. Since the 1970s the income gap in the United States has grown steadily and today the United States is the most unequal of all OECD countries (with the exception of Mexico and Turkey). In the past ten years alone, the disposable income for middle class families in the United States has shrank by a figure of 4 percent. In addition to rising income inequality, labor union participation has been on …

Working Hard Or Hardly Working?: An Examination Of Work Relief In Upstate New York 1931-1943, Maxwell Prime

Honors Theses

Becoming the first U.S. state to provide direct funding and administrative support for work relief to its cities, counties and townships; with the creation of the Temporary Emergency Relief Administration in November of 1931, New York took its first steps in what would become a long tradition of work relief in the state. However, existing academic examinations of work relief in upstate New York in large part ignore activities in the state’s upstate region in favor of higher profile operations in New York City. This thesis attempts to chart the rise and developmental trajectory of work relief in upstate New …

The Ideal Woman: The Changing Female Labor Force And The Image Of Femininity In American Society In The 1940s And 1950s, Carlie Seigal

Honors Theses

In 1943 the image of Rosie the Riveter personified what the ideal American woman was supposed to be. Rosie supported the war effort and did her patriotic duty for her country, earned a high wage, enjoyed her newfound independence, and showed America that she could do a man’s job, and do it well. However, Rosie and the many American women that she represented never dreamt that when the American servicemen came home two short years later, they would be forced out of their jobs and back into their homes to devote themselves to household chores and their families. In 1957 …