This cloth label depicts the first penitentiary in the U.S., which operated from 1773 to 1838. The emergence of penitentiaries as places where imprisoned people could reflect and repent, as opposed to the primary objective of punishment, was largely driven by the Quaker community.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Pamphlet calling for a boycott of clothes made through imprisoned labor. It shows that union opposition to imprisoned labor was not always based on ethics, often focusing on the aspect of free competition instead.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Attribution:
National Joint Committee on Prison Labor of the Union-Made Garment Manufacturers Association and the United Garment Workers of America
Pamphlet calling for a boycott of clothes made through imprisoned labor. It shows that union opposition to imprisoned labor was not always based on ethics, often focusing on the aspect of free competition instead.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Attribution:
National Joint Committee on Prison Labor of the Union-Made Garment Manufacturers Association and the United Garment Workers of America
Pamphlet calling for a boycott of clothes made through imprisoned labor. It shows that union opposition to imprisoned labor was not always based on ethics, often focusing on the aspect of free competition instead.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Attribution:
National Joint Committee on Prison Labor of the Union-Made Garment Manufacturers Association and the United Garment Workers of America
A receipt, addressed to Chauncy Mills, for the sewing of socks at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women. The reformatory opened in 1877 as part of a broader trend toward building prison facilities specifically for women.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
A receipt, addressed to Chauncy Mills, for the sewing of socks at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women. The reformatory opened in 1877 as part of a broader trend toward building prison facilities specifically for women.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
The bill prevented states from selling goods made with imprisoned labor across state lines. Sidney Hillman, prominent labor leader and head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA), supported it, claiming that it would work in favor of cotton garment industry employers and workers. The bill was eventually enacted as the Ashurst-Sumners Act of 1935.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
The workers in the background of these photographs were an unintended addition, as the photos were meant to display the woolen mill equipment. Inadvertently, they give us a glimpse into the lives of workers at the El Reno Woolen Mill.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
The workers in the background of these photographs were an unintended addition, as the photos were meant to display the woolen mill equipment. Inadvertently, they give us a glimpse into the lives of workers at the El Reno Woolen Mill.
On loan from the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
The use of imprisoned labor predates industrialization. Often incarcerated for no other reason than being poor, people were pulled from the workhouse for labor in the British woolen industry.
The use of imprisoned labor predates industrialization. Often incarcerated for no other reason than being poor, people were pulled from the workhouse for labor in the British woolen industry.
The use of imprisoned labor predates industrialization. Often incarcerated for no other reason than being poor, people were pulled from the workhouse for labor in the British woolen industry.
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution formally abolished slavery in the United States but it left the door open for involuntary servitude as a form of punishment. It reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (emphasis added).
Cornell’s Thirteenth Amendment manuscript is one of 14 souvenir or commemorative copies of the Amendment signed by Lincoln and 150 of the senators and representatives who voted for it.
Gift of Nicholas H. and Marguerite Lilly Noyes