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On December 20, 1909, more than 7,000 of Philadelphia's 12,000 shirtwaist workers walked out on their jobs, one month after the " uprising of 20,000 " commenced in New York City's shirtwaist industry. The strike lasted until February 6, 1910, when manufacturers agreed to comply with workers' demands (though ultimately refused union recognition). Occurring in an era of increased unemployment, labor market instability, and worker militancy, the shirtwaist strike revealed tensions between Philadelphia's Republican machine government and organized labor, as well as among elite members of the Jewish community, club women, and the young shirtwaist workers.

The shirtwaist blouse was a type of blouse common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, modeled after a man's shirt, that was the model blouse for the independent, working woman. It was fashionable, had a collar, and could be of simple or embellished design, making it versatile.

Approximately 85 percent of the shirtwaist strikers were Jewish women and girls from Russia, demonstrating the ethnic and gender segregation of Philadelphia's labor market. Overall, 40 percent of workers in Philadelphia's garment trades were Jewish, and young women and girls from Russia had high rates of employment. Most Jewish workers worked for Jewish employers, who often paid low wages and were generally first- or second-generation Jewish elites from Western Europe, who had settled in Philadelphia decades earlier. Members of this elite welcomed new immigrants hesitantly, devoting considerable resources to forge a pliant, assimilated working class. However, many newly arrived immigrant workers agitated for better working conditions against the call for "unity and harmony" among the community's intellectual and business leaders.

The shirtwaist industry operated under a subcontracting system, wherein manufacturers distributed work to contractors who, in turn, hired operators to make the garments. The manufacturers were not liable for any injury or illness workers suffered on the job, and workers were often responsible for purchasing their own equipment and supplies. To alleviate these conditions, strikers demanded a ten percent increase in wages on all piece and contract work, regular and consistent payment, an end to punitive firings, a cap of fifty hours work per week, sanitary working conditions, union recognition, and a free supply of work materials (thread, for example).

In response to the strike, the city government pledged "sufficient protection" for shirtwaist manufacturers and began rounding up hundreds of picketing strikers per day. Workers and their allies were arrested for allegedly committing crimes that included intimidating, insulting, or "annoying" workers who were not on strike, assault and battery of police officers and strikebreakers, inciting to riot, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy. To maintain the strike, leadership from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) and the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) solicited the aid of society women, who supplied the material support necessary for the workers to hold out. More than one hundred local unions also pledged solidarity, linking the strike to broader organizing efforts in the city, as well as to concurrent shirtwaist strikes in other United States and Canadian cities.

The strikers faced tremendous opposition from the city's business community, the Republican administration of Mayor John E. Reyburn (1845-1914), the police department, mainstream press, and Jewish elites. However, with the support of clubwomen (including Helen Taft (1891-1987), the daughter of President William Howard Taft (1857-1930), labor organizations, and rank-and-file workers, the shirtwaist strikers were able to stay on the picket lines long enough to secure substantive gains-including a system for negotiating piece-work prices, reduced work hours, and the elimination of charges for materials.

More broadly, the political corruption of the Reyburn administration had alienated both reform groups and members of Republican Party. At a moment when growing numbers of elite women were organizing for universal suffrage, enough saw the plight of shirtwaist workers as a symbol of political oppression against women more broadly. While club women were most comfortable participating from a distance and on their own terms, their arrests from the picket lines populated front-page headlines.

Overall, the strike revealed tensions that had already existed in Philadelphia, as well as the growing political involvement of elite women and the entrenchment of the city's police force. Further, the strike showcased the power of organized labor, which would be witnessed in full force during the 1910 General Strike, which involved between 60,000 and 70,000 Philadelphians striking in solidarity with streetcar workers.

Julianne Kornacki is a doctoral student in political science with an interest in the history of municipal and neighborhood politics in Philadelphia. (Author information current at time of publication.)

Copyright Rutgers University, 2015.

Foner, Philip S. Women and the American Labor Movement: From Colonial Times to the Eve of World War I. New York: The Free Press, 1979.

Klaczynska, Barbara. "Working Women in Philadelphia, 1900-1930." Ph.D. diss., Temple University, 1975.

Kornacki, Julianne. "Revealing Division: The Philadelphia Shirtwaist Strike, the Jewish Community, and Republican Machine Politics, 1909-1910." Pennsylvania History, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Summer 2013): 364-400.

Licht, Walter. Getting Work: Philadelphia, 1840-1950. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992.

Sidorick, Daniel. "The 'Girl Army': The Philadelphia Shirtwaist Strike of 1909-1910." Pennsylvania History 71, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 323-69.

Whiteman, Maxwell. "Out of the Sweatshop." In Jewish Life in Philadelphia: 1830-1940. Philadelphia: Ishi Publications, 1983.

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Shirtwaist Strike (1909-10) - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

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On December 20, 1909, more than 7,000 of Philadelphia's 12,000 shirtwaist workers walked out on their jobs, one month after the " uprising of 20,000 " commenced in New York City's shirtwaist industry. The strike lasted until February 6, 1910, when manufacturers agreed to comply with workers' demands (though ultimately refused union recognition).

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Are the characters in Uprising, accurately written?
The characters in Uprising are accurately written. According to aflcio.org, "The shirtwaist makers, as young as age 15, worked seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a half-hour lunch break. During the busy season, the work was nearly non-stop. They were paid about $6 per week. In some cases, they were required to use their own needles, thread, irons, and occasionally their own sewing machines. The factories also were unsanitary, or as a young striker explained, “unsanitary—that’s the word that is generally used, but there ought to be a worse one used." (Triangle Shirtwaist Fire) This was accurate to the book because in it Bella, Yetta, and Jane

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How the fire started in the book was that the cutters were smoking and a spark fell into a scraps bin on the 8th floor. One thing that was wrong in the book was in the book they were no fire alarms that went off but in real life they were fire alarms. in the book, the firefighter ladder only reached the 7th floor and in real life, the ladder only reached the 7th floor. also in the book they are 2 elevators and it said that girls would jump in the elevator shaft this acutely happen and they broke the elevator with the weight. There are a lot of things in this book that are accurate.

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This book is about a friendship destroyed because of Nazis in Germany. Max is a Jewish art dealer that lives in San Francisco, California. Martin, Max's friend, and former business partner, moved back to Germany just as Hitler was coming to power. This book is written in letters back and forth between the two friends.

Uprising and Address Unknown have many similarities and differences between the two texts. Some similarities include the time period and theme. Some differences are the topic, characters, and plot.

They are both set in the same time period, the early 1900s. This was a time period of lots of immigrants coming to America. Bella and Max both came to America to start new lives. Both texts have the same theme, never give up. This theme is shown in Address Unknown because Martin has to live through the Nazis, which is a tough time. At first, Martin thinks Hilter is good for Germany. "I tell you truly, Max, I think in many ways Hitler is good for Germany, but I am not sure,"(17). This quote explains that Hitler gave hope to people in Germany because now they have a powerful government.

Uprising and Address Unknown are very different too. These include the topic, characters, and overall plot. The topic is different because Uprising is about a fire and Address Unknown is about the Nazis. The characters are also different. Bella, Yetta, and Jane are friends that live together. "Jane lay in bed long after Bella and Yetta left for work," (212). This quote explains that Jane left home and is now leaving with Bella and Yetta because her father hired strikebreakers. Martin and Max are friends, but they live in different parts of the world, California and Germany. The plot is also very different for many reasons. They both have chapters that are with different characters' points of view, but the plot is overall very different.

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Bella just came to America from Italy and gets a job at the Triangle factory. Bella is using the money she earns at the Triangle factory to send to her family back in Italy, yet does she know that her family dead right when she came to America? Yetta is from Russia, and she helps the factory workers go on strike. Jane is rich, and she becomes involved in the factory too, by going to some of the strikes. The factory goes up in flames when a worker's cigarette catches the shirtwaist on fire. Yetta died in the fire by falling off the building and the net to catch her broke. Also, Jane died because the elevator never came back and she was trapped in the building. Bella is the only one of the three girls that survived. At the end of the book, Bella is talking to Harriet, the girl Jane babysat, about the fire. Bella married Rocco, boy that she lived with, and had two girls, named Jane and Yetta.

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"...and in that moment, the fire escape just... fell away,"(289). In Uprising, Bella was trying to escape the building using the fire escape and it fell. This is the photo of the factory after the fire and the fire escape has fallen.

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There is a lot in this video that talks about the women striking and how they did get beat up in real life and in the book. There is also a part where it talks about Clara Lemlich and how she had told the girls to go on general strike this also happened in the Uprising. '"It’s Clara Lemlich,” Rahel whispered,... I have listened to all these speakers. I have no more patience for talk,” she said as if she knew exactly what Yetta had been thinking. “I am one of those who feels and suffers from the things described. I move that we go on a general strike! Now!” The room exploded with cheers,"(108).

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The Uprising of 20,000: The NY Shirtwaist Workers Go On Strike | PBS LearningMedia

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This video segment adapted from American Experience documents the 1909 strike of garment workers in New York City. In an effort to improve wages, hours, and working conditions, women working in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory began a strike that ultimately spread throughout the garment industry and resulted in the largest work stoppage in the city's history.