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Labor History - 18: Lynn Shoemakers' Strike - I

December 28, 1970

Labor History - 18: Lynn Shoemakers' Strike - I

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Title
Labor History - 18: Lynn Shoemakers' Strike - I
Creator
Wright, Fred, 1907-1984
Contributor
Lerner, James, 1911-2003 (contributor)
University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
Contributor
Lerner, James, 1911-2003
Date
December 28, 1970
Identifier
ue13.3.1.018
Description
This cartoon depicts the Lynn Shoemaker's strike of 1860, which was in response to wage cuts after the panic of 1857. Caption 1: As the unemployed began returning to their jobs after the panic of 1857, they found that employers had cut their wages. Strikes began breaking out. The Grand Association of Pennsylvania called a general strike in Feb., 1859 which was won although "the bosses" as a newspaper wrote, "tried to divide the strikers by embittering the minds of the Germans against the Irish, and the Americans against the Irish." Caption 2: But it was the New England Shoemakers' strike of 1859 which set a new mark for labor action. Their wages reduced to $3 a week, ($1 for women) and days as long as 16 hours, the workers could no longer stand it. After mass meetings to consider demands, the Lynn Mechanics Assn. wrote all manufacturers telling them of a new wage scale and asking for a meeting to consider it. The employers refused to meet. Caption 3: Washington's birthday, 1860, was chosen for the strike date because "it is a fitting occasion for a blow in favor of the cause you are engaged in..." Three thousand shoemakers met at Lynn Lyceum Hall to set up a committee of 100 to prevent expressmen from taking unfinished shoes out of the plants. A second committee was formed to visit shops to make sure no one scabbed; a third to help keep order. UE News, Vol. XXXII, Issue No. 26
Type
still image
Genre
comics (documents)
comic strips
layouts (printed matter)
Subject
Strikes
Source
Labor History Series (Series 13.3.1), Fred Wright Publication Plates (Subgroup 13.3), Fred Wright Papers (UE.13)
Collection
Fred Wright Cartoons
Contributor
University of Pittsburgh
Rights Information
In Copyright. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/