Common Sense and a Little Fire: Women and Working-Class Politics in the United States, 1900-1965 (Gender and American Culture)

Common Sense and a Little Fire traces the personal and public lives of four immigrant women activists who left a lasting imprint on American politics. Though they have rarely had more than cameo appearances in previous histories, Rose Schneiderman, Fannia Cohn, Clara Lemlich Shavelson, and Pauline Newman played important roles in the emergence of organized labor, the New Deal welfare state, adult education, and the modern women's movement. Orleck takes her four subjects from turbulent, turn-of-the-century Eastern Europe to the radical ferment of New York's Lower East Side and the gaslit tenements where young workers studied together. Drawing from the women's writings and speeches, she paints a compelling picture of housewives'food and rent protests, of grim conditions in the garment shops, of factory-floor friendships that laid the basis for a mass uprising of young women garment workers, and of the impassioned rallies working women organized for suffrage. From that era of rebellion, Orleck charts the rise of a distinctly working-class feminism that fueled poor women's activism and shaped government labor, tenant, and consumer policies through the early 1950s. Common Sense And A Little Fire Traces The Personal And Public Lives Of Four Immigrant Women Activists Who Left A Lasting Imprint On American Politics. Though They Have Rarely Had More Than Cameo Appearances In Previous Histories, Rose Schneiderman, Fannia Cohn, Clara Lemlich Shavelson, And Pauline Newman Played Important Roles In The Emergence Of Organized Labor, The New Deal Welfare State, Adult Education, And The Modern Women's Movement. All Four Rose From The Garment Shop Floor To Positions Of Influence In The American Labor Movement. They Devoted Their Lives To The Empowerment Of Working-class Women, But They Disagreed Frequently And Fervently About The Best Strategy For Doing So. Pt. 1. The Rise Of A Working-class Women's Movement, 1882-1909 -- Prologue. From The Russian Pale To The Lower East Side: The Cultural Roots Of Four Jewish Women's Radicalism. Ch. 1. Coming Of Age: The Shock Of The Shops And The Dawning Of Political Consciousness, 1900-1909 -- Pt. 2. Working Women In Rebellion: The Emergence Of Industrial Feminism, 1909-1920. Ch. 2. Audacity: The Uprising Of Women Garment Workers, 1909-1915. Ch. 3. Common Sense: New York City Working Women And The Struggle For Woman Suffrage -- Pt. 3. The Activists In Their Prime: The Mainstreaming Of Industrial Feminism, 1920-1945. Ch. 4. Knocking At The White House Door: Rose Schneiderman, Pauline Newman, And The Campaign For Labor Legislation, 1910-1945. Ch. 5. Emotion Strained Through A Thinking Mind: Fannia Cohn, The Ilgwu, And The Struggle For Workers' Education, 1915-1945. Annelise Orleck. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 359-365) And Index. "Over twenty years after its initial publication, Annelise Orleck's Common Sense and a Little Fire continues to resonate with its harrowing story of activism, labor, and women's history. Orleck traces the personal and public lives of four immigrant women activists who left a lasting imprint on American politics. Though they have rarely made more than cameo appearances in previous histories, Rose Schneiderman, Fannia Cohn, Clara Lemlich Shavelson, and Pauline Newman played important roles in the emergence of organized labor, the New Deal welfare state, adult education, and the modern women's movement. Orleck takes her four subjects from turbulent, turn-of-the-century Eastern Europe to the radical ferment of New York's Lower East Side and the gaslit tenements where young workers studied together. Orleck paints a compelling picture of housewives' food and rent protests, of grim conditions in the garment shops, of factory-floor friendships that laid the basis for a mass uprising of young women garment workers, and of the impassioned rallies working women organized for suffrage. "-- page [4] of cover.