Vintage Photograph of Women Seamstresses and Tailors 1890

1890. [Women Employment] Original vintage photograph of a large group of women seamstresses and tailors at their sewing machines in a factory setting. circa 1890. Sepia. Approximately 5" x 8" with back photographer mat. Rows and rows of women sitting in front of sewing machines gaze into the camera. While single women faced barriers to employment, wives and mothers confronted prejudice that put their jobs at risk after marriage and childbirth. As women took advantage of expanded access to jobs with the advent of factory lines, a new push was made for job security and upward mobility. The women's employment movement first picked up traction in the industrial revolution, as women fought to secure fair hours and wages for female factory workers; In the late 1870s and 80s, women's organizations lobbied for safe conditions and job protection for married women and mothers; and through the 20th century expansion of skilled female labor including civil service, publishing, and medicine. Some of the most radical labor organizing in the West happened thanks to women in the textiles industry, as women fought to secure prosperity and safety under new work conditions. A beautiful photograph of the spirited women, young and old, at the front lines of the changing workplace. Ref:Baxandall, "America's Working Women" p. 94-96, 158. Papachristou, "Documents of the Women's Movement" p. 126-39. Hunt, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2005). The Women's Library (London School of Economics). Krichmar 2423, 2610, 2766, 2839.