founded Hull House in 1889, just as the Farmers’ Alliance was reaching a peak of activism and work- ers had organized the Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor. Imagine a conver- sation among the following individuals: a rural man or woman active in the Farmers’ Alliance; a skilled workman who joined the American Federation of Labor; an urban antiprostitution reformer; and a middle-class volunteer who worked in a settlement house. How would each have described the problems caused by industrialization? What remedies would each suggest? On what points would they have disagreed? Can you imagine any issues on which they might have worked together? What does this suggest about the opportunities and limits of alliance building, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, across class and geographic lines?
In Chapter 17 we explored the activities of agrarian reformers and labor unions who protested the impact of industri- alization on their lives. In Chapters 18 and 19 we considered the work of middle-class and urban reformers who sought to address some of the same conditions. Chronologically, their work over- lapped: note, for example, that Jane Addams founded Hull House in 1889, just as the Farmers’ Alliance was reaching a peak of activism and work- ers had organized the Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor. Imagine a conver- sation among the following individuals: a rural man or woman active in the Farmers’ Alliance; a skilled workman who joined the American Federation of Labor; an urban antiprostitution reformer; and a middle-class volunteer who worked in a settlement house. How would each have described the problems caused by industrialization? What remedies would each suggest? On what points would they have disagreed? Can you imagine any issues on which they might have worked together? What does this suggest about the opportunities and limits of alliance building, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, across class and geographic lines?
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