A Photo for Many Causes

This extraordinary photograph has been reproduced so often that it has become a symbol of American women’s labor history, capturing with unusual clarity the emotional power of women marching in solidarity.  The number of its reproductions is almost matched by the number of its attributions.  It is often identified in history books as being from the beginning of the “Uprising of 20,000,” in November, 1909. Other books have identified it as a march in the spring after the strike that included victorious strikers joining suffragists to demand better working conditions, an end to child labor, and the right to vote. Another source identifies the image as a clothing workers’ strike in Chicago in 1910.

This photo is featured in an historical plaque in Union Square, NYC.  See the “Uprising of 20,000” plaque in our exhibit on Union Square.  

Photo from UNITE Archives, Kheel Center, Cornell University.