Knocking at the White House Door: Rose Schneiderman, Pauline Newman, and the Campaign for Labor Legislation, 1910–1945

Abstract

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 made labor activists keenly aware of the need for regulatory labor legislation as well as strikes and street protests. This chapter traces the evolving friendship of Newman and Schneiderman with Frances Perkins, Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt and argues that these Jewish immigrant Socialist garment workers helped shape the 20th century regulatory state and social safety net.