Labor Archives

May 26, 1937: Battle of the Overpass

Union members were beaten by Ford Motor Co. reps for distributing leaflets in the Battle of the Overpass.

May 29 Disney Strike | Zinn Education Project

May 29, 1941: Disney Animators’ Strike

Disney animators went on strike and demanded unionization.

June 9, 1952: Fred Ross Pitched Political Activism to Cesar Chavez

Fred Ross knocked on the door of Cesar Chavez.

June 16, 1918: Eugene V. Debs Speech Against WWI

Eugene V. Debs made his famous anti-war speech protesting World War I, which was raging in Europe at the time.

Jan. 11, 1912: The Bread and Roses Strike Started

The Bread and Roses Strike began in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

The NYC Tompkins Square Riot (art) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 13, 1874: The New York City Tompkins Square Riot

The New York City Tompkins Square Riot occurred during a devastating economic depression.

July1 New Orleans Street car | Zinn Education Project

July 1, 1929: Streetcar Workers Strike in New Orleans

More than 1,000 streetcar workers went on strike in New Orleans.

July 3, 1835: Paterson Silkworkers Strike

In Paterson, New Jersey, 2,000 workers went on strike from 20 textile mills.

Piedmont Leaf Protest | Zinn Education Project

July 5, 1935: National Labor Relations Act Passed

The National Labor Relations Act was signed into law.

July 7, 1903: March of the Mill Children

Mary Harris “Mother” Jones began the “March of the Mill Children.”

July 6, 1892: Homestead Strike

Spies from the Pinkerton Detective Agency and striking steelworkers engaged in a major battle as part of the Homestead Strike.

Southern Homestead Act | Zinn Education Project

June 21, 1866: Southern Homestead Act

The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was signed, providing land to the formerly enslaved, lands which had been stolen from the Native American inhabitants.

Lucas Square St. Louis Rail Strike | Zinn Education Project

July 22, 1877: St. Louis Rail Strike

Rail workers and residents of St. Louis, Missouri briefly took over the city as part of the wider Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

Newspaper account of African Americans killed and wounded during labor strife in Polk County, from the New York Times; August 10, 1896.

Aug. 5, 1896: Polk County Massacre

White workers murdered Black workers in Arkansas who were coming to work on the railways.

Rock Springs Massacre | Zinn Education Project

Sept. 2, 1885: Rock Springs Massacre

White coal miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, brutally attacked Chinese workers.

Oct. 15, 1914: Clayton Antitrust Act Enacted

The Clayton Antitrust Act sought to end practices that limited competition throughout the economy.

Nov. 14, 1889: Nellie Bly Embarks on Travel Around the World

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly began a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days.

Jan. 31, 1938: Emma Tenayuca Leads Pecan Shellers Strike

Tenayuca was known as “La Pasionaria de Texas” for her commitment to justice for Mexican American laborers.

A. Philip Randolph (photo) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 25, 1941: A. Philip Randolph and March on Washington

A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union, made the official call for a march on Washington, with the demand to end segregation in defense industries.

Memphis Martin and the Mountaintop 9781629797182 (Book Cover) | Zinn Education Project

Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968

Picture book. By Alice Faye Duncan. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. 2018. 40 pages.
A historical fiction picture book that presents the story of nine-year-old Lorraine Jackson, who in 1968 witnessed the Memphis sanitation strike.

Campaign poster for Victor Berger (1860-1929), U.S. Senatorial campaign.

March 2, 1912: HR 409 Hearings on Lawrence Strike

Milwaukee representative Victor Berger introduced House Resolution 409 to conduct hearings into the Lawrence strike and the workings of the American Woolen Company.

Thomas Jefferson Advertisement Runaway Slave | Zinn Education Project

Freedom on the Move: Rediscovering the Stories of Self-Liberating People

Digital collection. Crowdsourcing project that provides access to information, through thousands of print advertisements, about freedom-seekers and their would-be enslavers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas

Book — Non-fiction. By Diane Wilson. 2006. 392 pages.
Shrimp-boat captain Diane Wilson takes on corporate greed and political corruption in a true story about environmental activism on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The Untold History of the United States: Young Readers Editions, Vols 1 (1898-1945) & 2 (1945-1962)

Book — Non-fiction. By Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. Adapted by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and Eric S. Singer. Vol 1. 2014. 400 pages. Vol 2. 2019. 320 pages.
These are two volumes of illustrated histories, adapted for students from a documentary book and film of the same name.

April 17, 1996: Landless Workers Movement Protesters Murdered by Brazilian Government

Brazil’s military police gunned down 19 peasant farm workers in the Via Campesina movement who were marching for land sovereignty in 1996.

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