1889 Jane Addams founds Hull-House, an immigrant settlement house and center for social reform, in Chicago. The United Mine Workers is formed. Led by Eugene V. Debs, members of the American Railway Union hold a massive strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union is founded. 1904 Civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune founds Daytona Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls in Florida.
Women demonstrate in New York City, demanding an end to sweatshops and child labor.
The Triangle Shirt Waist Company fire in New York City kills 146 sweatshop workers, mostly women, and leads to demands for better working conditions. The Colorado National Guard burns a striking miner's camp and kills 13 children and 7 adults in the Ludlow Massacre. The national minimum wage is enacted. 1947 Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player, appears in his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court outlaws segregation in public schools.