Period+6


 * Working Bibliography**

“Progressive Era”. American History. 30 Nov. 2006. http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:Hknz6tjc4iQJ:dorman-data-digest.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Progressive%2BEra%2Boverview.doc+child+labor+in+the+united+states+during+the+progressive+era&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a ( 3 October 2008).

Eckley Miner’s Village Tour. 18 September 2008.

“Progressive Era Investigations”. U.S. Department of Labor. Page 5. http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/mono-regsafepart05.htm. (7 October 2008).

Barret, Nancy J. “The Struggles of Women Industrial Workers to Improve Work Conditions in the Progressive Era”. Organization of American Historians. http://oah.org/pubs/magazine/progressive/barrett.html. (8 October 2008).

Asa Packer Mansion Tour. 18 September 2008.


 * Industrialists- Working Conditions**

Unlike their working -man counterparts, the rich industrials who owned the mines, factories, and meat packing plants, did not have to work under uncomfortable or life-threatening conditions. For example, Asa Packer, who made his many millions by transporting coal via his railroad, worked in the comfort of his own office that was located in his mansion in Mauch Chunk, Pennslyvania, now Jim Thorpe. (Asa Packer Mansion Tour, 2008)


 * Workers: Working Conditions**

Steel workers worked under extreme hazardous conditions. For example, in Butler, Pennsylvania, a huge explosion occurred when a heavy pot of hot metal spilled molten steel onto wet sand. The streaming, sizzling steel killed four men outright and severely injured another 30. The explosion was so intense that it shook buildings in the nearby town. (Progressive Era Investigations,p.5)

Work in the coal mining industry was always life-threatening. First, they had to blast to losen the coal so that it could be mined. This released tremendous amounts of dust that the miners constantly breathed in. Many miners suffered from a respiratory disease appropriately called “black lung”. This disease not only resulted in severe breathing problems, but often causes early deaths. In addition, the mines were also wet and cold. Miners were crippled by rheumatism and arthritis for these reasons. Mines would sometimes flood, drowning many. Lethal gases would often cause miners to smoother. However, the worst fear was that of a mine cave-in. Often, cave ins would be so devasting that the bodies of the workers were never recovers. (Eckley Miners Village Tour, 2008)

It was not only the steel industry and the coal mining industry that were dangerous. Other industries presented their own hazards. For example, a boy working in a coffin plant was decapitated and had both legs and both arms ripped of when he was caught in some of the machinery. A machinist got his arm caught in a rapidly moving belt. It was jerked from its socket, and he fell 50 feet to the floor. A worker in a brick plant got caught in machinery and had most of his flesh ripped from his body. A man who worked in a sawmill fell A sawmill worker fell onto a large, unguarded circular saw and was split in two. When a worker got caught in the large flywheel of the main steam power plant of a navy yard, his arms and legs were torn off and the lifeless trunk was hurled against a wall 50 feet away. (Progressive Era Investigations,p.5)

Women in the work force, worked for long hours and under sweatshop conditions in many different types of factories. Some worked in candy making factories where they had to put up with sickly sweet smells. Others rolled cigars by hand. Many of these women would get nicotine poisoning on their skin. (Barrett, Nancy J.)

Unscrupulous factory and mine owners soon learned that children could provide a cheap work force that could be easily controlled. Because this by the early 20th century, there were approximately 4 million children between the ages of 10 and 15 who made up the nation’s work force. These children worked in dangerous conditions were they were frequently injured or even killed. (Progressive Era, 2006)


 * Workers: Annual Income**

An annual salary of $800 was considered the minimum necessary for survival for a family of four in 1905; however, the average factory worker during that time only earned $400 a year. (Barrett)

Coal miners were paid by the number of tons that they mined. However, their pay would sometimes amount to only cents after they paid the company store for supplies such as picks, shovels, dynamite, and mining caps. (Eckley Miners Village Tour, 2008)

Workers Housing and Lifestyle During the Progressive Era, the cities were rapidly growing as many people poured in to work in emerging factories. For this reason often several families at a time were forced to live together in one or two rat-infested rooms. (Progressive Era, 2006)

People who lived in coal mining townS during PE lived in small homes that were owned by the company. These homes were drafty, shoddily-built, had no indoor plumbing. They usually had two rooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. If the miners wanted extra space, they had to build rooms on themselves.(Eckley Tour, 2008)