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Labor History Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Labor History

“I’Ve Got A Million Of These Stories”: Workers’ Perspectives At The Eastern Fine Paper Corporation, 1960-2004, Amy Stevens Dec 2009

“I’Ve Got A Million Of These Stories”: Workers’ Perspectives At The Eastern Fine Paper Corporation, 1960-2004, Amy Stevens

Maine History

Maine’s modern history is punctuated by factory closings — the textile mills in the 1950's, the shoe factories in the 1980's and 1990's, and most recently the paper mills in various corners of the state. Although numerous studies document the economic impact of these unfortunate events, we have little recourse to understanding the human impact — the stories of the men and women whose lives were so closely entwined with the mills and the communities they so often founded and supported. In this article, Amy Stevens weaves together the documents and the stories that provide a multifaceted picture of the …


“Hard Work To Make Ends Meet”: Voices Of Maine’S Working-Class Women In The Late Nineteenth Century, Carol Toner Aug 2004

“Hard Work To Make Ends Meet”: Voices Of Maine’S Working-Class Women In The Late Nineteenth Century, Carol Toner

Maine History

In 1887 the Maine legislature responded to pressures from the Knights of Labor and an increasingly agitated industrial labor force by instituting the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics. The bureau’s job was to examine the state's workplaces and provide information to guide the legislature in making labor law. Reflecting the ideals of the popular Knights of Labor, the bureau initially focused its investigations on female as well as male workers. When the bureau requested that workers fill out questionnaires about their work, hundreds of women responded, leaving a rare first-hand account of women’s attitudes toward their working and living …