Memory in Cloth
Safety and Solidarity for New York City Garment Workers
May 1, 1909. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Young immigrant workers, mostly women, confronted difficult conditions in the factories. Major strikes, such as the 1909 Uprising of 20,000, organized and built the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. Here two girls join a NYC parade celebrating international labor day on May 1, 1909. They carry an American flag and wear sashes saying “Abolish Child Slavery” in English and Yiddish.