ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5163-3640
Degree
Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
Major(s)
History
Document Type
Immediate Open Access
Abstract
This thesis examines the vital role of Black women in the American labor movement during the twentieth century, emphasizing how their leadership and union participation were central to both labor organizing and the broader fight for human rights. Black women workers navigated and resisted the effects of racism, sexism, and class exploitation in a century marked by industrial expansion, economic upheaval, and major civil rights struggles. Far from passive participants, they emerged as key organizers, negotiators, and strategists in their communities, labor unions, and national movements. Additionally, their work extended beyond their demands for better wages and safer working conditions. It also included broader goals such as political representation, racial justice, and gender equity. The thesis explores how Black women’s labor activism was inherently intersectional, with their fight for economic justice inseparable from social and political liberation. Activists such as Claudia Jones, Nannie Helen Burroughs, and Addie Waites Hunton illustrate the ways in which Black women intertwined the labor movement with grassroots organizing principles and a vision for collective empowerment. The research herein also considers lesser-known local and regional efforts, demonstrating that Black women’s leadership was both widespread and transformative. By centering Black women’s experiences, this work challenges dominant labor narratives that have historically marginalized their contributions in discussions of the Popular Front. It positions Black women as the perpetuators of an intersectional labor movement, one that reflected the combined struggles against racial, gendered, and economic oppression throughout the twentieth century in the United States.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.54718/RKOM5637
Date Defended
5-2-2025
Funding Source
N/A
Thesis Director
Dr. Joseph Thompson
Second Committee Member
Dr. Donald Shaffer
Third Committee Member
Dr. Anthony Neal
Recommended Citation
Lee, Kyndle Diane, "“Take This Job and Shove It”: How Black Women’s Fight for Economic Rights Informed Their Participation in the Broader Social Movements of the Twentieth Century" (2025). Honors Theses. 160.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/honorstheses/160
Rights Statement
"'Take This Job and Shove It'”: How Black Women’s Fight for Economic Rights Informed Their Participation in the Broader Social Movements of the Twentieth Century", Copyright 2025 by Kyndle Diane Lee. All rights reserved. In addition to my own works of authorship, this thesis may contain and provide citations to third party content. If your use goes beyond fair use, you would need to contact those rights holders for additional licensing/permissions.
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, History of Gender Commons, Labor History Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Political History Commons, United States History Commons, Women's History Commons, Women's Studies Commons
