The Samuel Gompers Papers, Volume 11

The Postwar Years, 1918-21

Author: Samuel Gompers

Edited by Peter J. Albert and Grace Palladino

Fighting to preserve labor's place in America after World War I

Cloth – $129

978-0-252-03389-6

Publication Date

Cloth: 07/06/2009

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About the Book

Volume 11 of the Samuel Gompers Papers documents a pivotal moment in labor history, when the wartime promise of industrial democracy gave way to business as usual in the postwar world. Spanning a turbulent period of wildcat strikes, racial unrest, and political experimentation, this volume presents the efforts of Gompers and the AFL to defend collective bargaining, protect hard-won wartime gains, and advance labor's role as a partner in economic prosperity and social progress.

This indispensable volume includes such episodes as the Seattle General Strike, the 1919 coal and steel strikes, the rise of the "American" open-shop plan, and John L. Lewis's unsuccessful campaign to replace Gompers as AFL president. It also covers Gompers's participation in the Versailles Peace Conference, his involvement with anti-immigration legislation, the founding of the AFL's Nonpartisan Political Campaign Committee, and the demands of black and women workers in the postwar era.

About the Author

Peter J. Albert and Grace Palladino are codirectors of the Samuel Gompers Papers. Peter J. Albert's other books include the fifteen-volume Perspectives on the American Revolution, coedited with Ronald Hoffman. Grace Palladino's most recent book is Skilled Hands, Strong Spirits: A Century of Building Trades History.