Sealskin and Shoddy: Working Women in the American Nineteenth Century Labor Press, 1870-1920

by Ann Schofield

Overview

As industrialization transformed American life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, increasing numbers of women sought employment outside the home and many were drawn into the labor movement. This collection of twenty-five stories published in union jourbanals offers a portrait both of women's experiences as wage-earners and of the conflicts, values, and aspirations that touched their lives in this period of massive social upheaval. Written by reformers, union officials, and popular fiction writers, the stories present an uneasy synthesis of labor movement virtues with domestic ideals of femininity, females assertiveness with female subordination, and moralizing with romantic fantasy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313254536
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/22/1988
Series:	Contributions in Women's Studies , #96
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

ANN SCHOFIELD is Associate Professor of American Studies and Women's Studies at the University of Kansas.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Our Sealskin and Shoddy: A Sensational Story of Labor's Wrongs by W.H. Little from The Jourbanal of United Labor of the Knights of Labor - July 19, 1988
The Show by Gertrude Barnum from The Ladies's Garment Worker - February, 1911
The Pig-Headed Girl by Gertrude Barnum from The Ladies' Garment Worker - April 1912
In the Jacket Shop by Gertrude Barnum from The Ladies' Garment Worker - April, 1910
At the Shirt Waist Factory by Gertrude Barnum from The Ladies' Garment Worker - May, 1910
This Style: Six Twenty-Nine by Gertrude Barnum from The Ladies' Garment Worker - May, 1913
The Living Skeleton and the Stout Reformer by Gertrude Barnum from The Ladies' Garment Worker - July, 1980
The Idealists by Gertrude Barnum
Equal Rights by Abraham Reisin from The Ladies' Garment Worker - November, 1917
Recognized by Wiener from The Ladies' Garment Worker - February, 1918
Regina's Disappointment by Bertha Levy from The Ladies Garment Worker - September, 1913
Mr. Skinner Climbs Down: The Story of a Girl's Strike and its Success from The Ladies' Garment Worker - February, 1913
Reporting Her Own Trial by Max Danish from The Ladies' Garment Worker - November, 1913
Not on Speaking Terms by Max Danish from The Ladies' Garment Worker - April, 1914
Angelina's Wisdom by Max Danish from The Ladies' Garment Worker - August, 1914
Tangled in the Shadows by Sonia Ureles from The Ladies' Garment Worker - September, 1913
Pilgrim's Progress in a Cigar Factory by "A Pilgrim" from Life and Labor of the Women's Trade Union League - June, 1920
Sarah Jane Appleton's Strike by Lucy Foster Madison from The Shoe Workers Jourbanal - November, 1905
A Golf Skirt by Theodora Bliss from American Federationist - December 1907
Her Birthday Gift by Lizzie Homes from American Federationist - March, 1913
Judge Newcomb's Retribution by Lizzie Homes from American Federationist - February, 1902
Mary Shaugnessy by Felix Benquiat from WHY? of the Industrial Workers of the World - June, 1913
Working Girls and Pet Dogs by Josephine Conger from The Butcher Workman - May, 1917
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index