History,  Museums

American Labor Museum | Haledon, New Jersey

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey exterior

The American Labor Museum

New Jersey was the home of many silk mills during the last century. 

It is now the home of the American Labor Museum.

Thousands of people were employed in those silk mills, under deplorable conditions. 

Long hours doing difficult and back-breaking work was the norm. Pietro and Maria Botto, immigrants from northern Italy, were two of those workers. 

So war their daughter.

 

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey National Historic Landmark sign

 

In 1913, the workers decided to go on strike. 

Over 25,000 of them walked out, shutting down the silk industry.

 They wanted an eight-hour day, among other demands. 

Pietro and Maria Botto House in Haledon, New Jersey

The workers were forbidden to strike in Paterson, so they moved over the town line to neighboring Haledon. 

Pietro and Maria had a modest house in Haledon, but the front balcony was perfect for giving speeches. At the time, there was much free space and lawns for large crowds to gather in front of the house. 

Soon labor leaders from around the country descended upon this home. Upton Sinclair, the author of The Jungle, a famous muckraking novel of conditions in factories and mills, was one of the speakers. 

The Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), better known as the “Wobblies”, also were there. They were considered the “outside agitators” of the strike. 

This is a wonderful and succinct video of the strikes: 

 

The Botto house is now an official National Historic Landmark and the American Labor Museum is located there.

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey painting

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey portraits of Pietro and Maria Botto

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey bedroom

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey dining room

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey kitchen

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey table

American Labor Museum, Haledon, New Jersey kitchen

More About the American Labor Movement

Lambert Castle Part 1 

Lambert Castle Part 2   

You may also check out an iconic television commercial from the 1970s:

Look For The Union Label

To read more about the silk strikes of 1913: Paterson Silk Strikes of 1913

If you are interested in reading books about labor, please read my reviews of Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee by Alex Frankel.  

Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!

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