What was the role of women (1) in the workforce and (2) in the labor movement in the United States in the period of the 1880s through the 1920s? For (1), did women work for wages in this period, if so, what jobs, and what were their working conditions? For (2), did they join unions, or participate in or support strikes or other workers’ movements?
In several of the important strikes we are studying, such as Homestead and Pullman, women were absent from the affected workforce or played only minor roles in those union struggles. Does this mean women were not present in the workforce or labor struggles? Your task is to research the role of women as workers and in union or other workplace organizing efforts and events, then develop a thesis statement summarizing your overall conclusion, then write a paper demonstrating the evidence for that thesis.
