She has published essays and reviews in the American Quarterly, Reviews in American History, and New Labor Forum. She is a former community organizer, who worked on economic justice, immigrant rights, and public housing issues before receiving her Ph.D. in U.S. History. She has a close connection to the events described in Eyes on Labor-her grandfather was working in the Republic Steel mill when police shot strikers on Chicago's Southeast Side; her great-uncle was one of the 100 plus men, women and children who were shot by police in what is called the Memorial Day Massacre. See less