Clara Lemlich. USA, ca. 1910
Lemlich was a leader of the shirtwaist workers’ strike in New York’s garment industry in 1909.
Must Know
An activist, the leader of the Uprising of the Twenty Thousand. Born in Gorodok, Ukraine, she immigrated to the U.S in 1903 and worked in the garment industry in New York. In 1905, she established a union, the majority of whose members were women. In 1909, she led the famous strike of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers. During the uprising, several of her ribs were broken by the police, she was arrested 17 times and eventually forced out of her job. She promoted women’s right to vote, and recognition of the importance of their household work. In 1926, she joined the Communist Party, and later co-founded the United Council of Working Women.
