Susan B. Anthony, suffragist, abolitionist, labor activist, born in Adams, Mass. "Join the union, girls, and together say: Equal Pay for Equal Work." - 1820
Western Federation of Miners strike for 8-hour day - 1903
President Theodore Roosevelt creates the Department of Commerce and Labor. It was divided into two separate government departments ten years later - 1903
A national eight-month strike by the Sons of Vulcan, a union of iron forgers, ends in victory when employers agreed to a wage scale based on the price of iron bars?the first time employers recognized the union, the first union contract in the iron and steel industry, and what may be the first union contract of any kind in the United States - 1865
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass born into slavery near Easton, Md. - 1818
John L. Lewis, president of United Mine Workers of America and founding president of the CIO, born near Lucas, Iowa - 1880