Compassionate Capitalism? A New Look at the 1910/11 Chicago Garment Workers Strike
March 19, 2014
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Location
Institute for the Humanities, Stevenson Hall lower level
Address
701 S. Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607
Calendar
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UIC Jewish Studies Public Lecture
Tobias Brinkmann
Penn State University
Malvin and Lea Bank Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History
Compassionate Capitalism? A New Look at the 1910/11 Chicago Garment Workers Strike
On September 22, 1910, Hannah Shapiro, a young Jewish garment worker in Chicago, and more than a dozen other immigrant women walked out, triggering one of the biggest strikes in American history. By the end of October 1910 more than 40,000 male and female garment workers were on strike across the city. The Chicago strike followed in the wake of two even larger strikes in New York. Shapiro’s sweatshop was part of Hart Schaffner & Marx (HSM), Chicago largest clothing manufacturer- and one of the largest producers of men’s clothing in the world. It is well known that HSM co-founder and partner Joseph Schaffner played a decisive role in resolving the conflict. HSM’s formal recognition of organized labor in January 1911 led to the formation of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in 191 4. Schaffner’s bold decision had deeper roots. The social justice theology advocated by the rabbi of Chicago Sinai Congregation, Emil Gustav Hirsch, made a lasting impression on Schaffner- and his fellow congregants such as philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. In my talk I will explain why a congregation composed of some of the wealthiest Chicagoans openly supported the pro-labor agenda of its rabbi, and how his message found its way from the pulpit into corporate offices and sweatshops. The clash between Jewish capitalists and Jewish workers in 1910/11 also throws an interesting light on the transforming relationship between the Jewish establishment and immigrant Jews.
Department of History; Jewish Studies Program
Date posted
Jun 8, 2020
Date updated
Sep 25, 2020