Women, Immigrants, and the Working-Class Battle in Little Falls, New York: The Textile Strike of 1912-1913

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This book leads us through the dramatic and historically significant Little Falls Textile Strike of 1912-1913, a working-class battle led primarily by immigrant women against brutal factory conditions and squalid housing. The story chronicles how a walkout over reduced wages grew into a major labor conflict, drawing in powerful allies like the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the socialist government of nearby Schenectady, and nationally recognized figures such as Helen Keller and "Big Bill" Haywood.

Central to the narrative is the courageous work of nurse Helen Schloss, who, while hired by the town's elite to combat tuberculosis, ended up exposing her employers' husbands as the owners of the city's worst slums. Author J.N. Cheney provides a comprehensive and pioneering academic analysis of the strike from a Marxist perspective, documenting the fierce opposition from police and mill owners and exploring the event's lasting legacy in the fight for workers' rights.