Shirt Waist Makers
2016
Screen print, ink on paper, edition of 10
11 x 17 inches

This print is based on an archival photograph of women garment workers carrying a large textile banner with the same text inscription, at a march or rally in the early 20th century. The photograph may have been taken during the Shirtwaist Strike of 1909-1910, in New York, NY. The strike is also known as the Uprising of 20,000, in honor of the 20,000-30,000 mostly Yiddish-speaking immigrant women working in New York shirtwaist factories, who went on strike for 11 weeks beginning in November 1909. The workers were members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, Local 25. The Strike led to higher wages and a 52-hour work week for 15,000 garment workers. By the end of the strike, over 10,000 women joined the Union. The original photograph of the strikers is part of the ILGWU archives at the Kheel Center, Cornell University.

Also published as part of "New Demands? Part 2," Counter Signals 4, 2021


Photo by Robert Chase Heisman