Labor Archives

March 22, 1968: March for Justice and Jobs

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Community on the Move for Equality called for a march in Memphis, Tennessee in solidarity with sanitation workers.

April 21, 1856: Workers Protest in Australia

Stonemasons and other construction workers protested for an eight-hour workday.

Harriet Hanson Robinson: “Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls.”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Harriet Hanson Robinson's "Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls" (1898) read by Lili Taylor.

Nov. 13, 1909: Cherry Mine Disaster

A disaster in the Cherry Mine in Cherry, Illinois, killed 259 boys and men.

May 1: International Workers Day

International Workers’ Day began as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket massacre in Chicago.

May 11, 1894: Pullman Strike

The American Railway Union led the Pullman Strike.

May 12, 1968: The Poor People’s Campaign Began

The Poor People’s Campaign was a multiracial effort to gain economic justice for poor people.

May 16, 1912: Studs Terkel Born

Studs Terkel was an author, activist, historian, and broadcaster.

May 25, 1934: Minneapolis Teamsters Strike

The Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934 was settled with union recognition and reinstatement for all fired workers.

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.

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