Child labor was widespread until the formation of the National Child Labor Committee in 1904.

With the help of one photographer who took photos of children at work, child labor in the US was eventually restricted by law in the mid-1900s.

The National Labor Relations Act gave workers the right to unionize in the US.

Hear an interview with Harvard Law School employee and labor law expert Sharon Block about how the parallel motivations of workers, employers, and government officials led to the creation of the National Labor Relations Act.

A 1922 Oregon initiative that sought to ban private education inadvertently strengthened parents' ability to pursue options outside the public school system, building the legal case for homeschooling.

Timeline of women in labor history

In 1866, newly freed black women working as laundresses in Jackson, Mississippi, formed a union and went on strike for higher wages. But it wasn't until 1974, that the Coalition of Labor Union Women was founded as America's only national organization for union women. Want to find out more about the history of women in the labor movement? Click here for the full timeline.

Massachusetts passed the first law requiring children to be educated as early as 1642.

Visually explore the federal government's evolving role in education.

Explore the history of Labor Day in the United States.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, a 1938 law guaranteeing time off for full-time employees, led to the modern vacation.

A 1912 congressional bill attempted to prohibit fake photos in the US

In the 1800s, photographs were held up as indisputable resources of truth. But the photography industry devised ways to alter photos, resulting in the rise of fraudulent photos—from shots with celebrities to the turn-of-the-century version of fake nudes—prompting government intervention.

Nike’s labor practices became controversial in the 1990s—leading to widespread protests of the brand

In the 1990s, Nike came under fire for its use of factories with unsafe working conditions and child labour to produce its products. While Nike didn’t own the manufacturing sites, many people felt Nike was ultimately responsible for using sweatshops in countries like Vietnam and Thailand.

A 1954 Senate subcommittee investigated the comics industry, believing it was corrupting young readers.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation and discrimination nationwide

The Civil Rights Act, signed into law in 1964, prohibited racial segregation in public accommodations and ended discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment, while also strengthening protections in education. It established protections enforced across federally funded programs.

The 13th Amendment's criminal exception enabled new forms of forced labor

Southern states exploited the amendment's clause allowing slavery "as punishment for crime" to arrest thousands of Black Americans on minor charges, leasing them to private employers through convict labor systems that persisted for decades.

With roots stretching back to the 18th century, unions have long been at the center of change in labor rights.

See photos of ultraviolet light therapy, widely administered in the early 1900s, particularly among children with skin diseases, tuberculosis, rickets, and more.

Since its inception in 1938, Congress has raised the federal minimum wage 22 times

If you want all the details about when and why these rate increases happened check out this resource from the US Department of Labor.

During the Great Depression, the US government used photography to document rural poverty.

The ACLU was founded in 1920 in direct response to the suppression of speech during World War I

The mass arrest and prosecution of anti-war activists, socialists, and immigrants under the Espionage and Sedition Acts prompted a group of civil libertarians to form the American Civil Liberties Union to defend constitutional rights.

A 1972 Supreme Court decision about Amish children and education helped pave the way for homeschooling in the US.

Pregnant teachers were once banned from public school classrooms after their first trimester, with school boards believing that they were bad influences on students.

Under-5 child mortality has been cut in half since 2000, UNICEF reports

The United Nations Children's Fund works globally to protect children's rights and well-being. Its 2024 report on child mortality reveals that under-5 deaths have halved since 2000. The report includes interactive data visualizations that can be sorted by year or topic.

Credit reporting's earliest origins in the 1700s resemble a game of telephone, with rural merchants asking their most esteemed neighbors to vouch for them to sleuthing urban lenders.

The first recorded worker strike in the United States predates the American Revolution.

Dorothea Lange's iconic 'Migrant Mother' photo was just one image of many she captured of the woman with her children.

The Fair Labor Standards Act established a minimum wage—but it didn't cover everyone

A 1966 amendment created the “tip credit,” which allowed restaurants to pay below minimum wage if tips compensated the difference. However, this federal tipped minimum wage has remained frozen at $2.13 per hour since 1991, whereas the regular minimum wage has increased multiple times since then.

In the early 20th century, 'baby cages' were popular among parents who believed that putting their children in the cold would build their immunity to minor illnesses.

Frances Perkins was the first woman in the US to hold a cabinet position

President Franklin D. Roosevelt named her the United States Secretary of Labor in 1933. In her cabinet seat, she not only helped establish the first federal minimum wage in the US, but also the Social Security Act.

The woman in Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother' photo felt that she and her children had been exploited.

Early American citizenship was defined inconsistently by individual states.

The abolitionist movement long predated the Civil War

Beginning in the late 18th century, abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Sojourner Truth campaigned through newspapers, lectures, and political action to end slavery.

A Gilded Age moral crusader convinced Congress to pass a law banning 'obscene, lewd or lascivious' materials from the mail that's central to today's debate over abortion pills.

Many of Dorothea Lange's most iconic photos were taken while she was working for a New Deal program.

Listen to how the 1902 'poison squad' experiments changed food safety in America

As part of government research, a group of young men were paid to eat standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—which revealed the dangers of unregulated food. The work was led by the first FDA commissioner, Harvey Wiley, who helped end the "century of the great stomachache."

The League of Nations was the predecessor to the UN—and the US never joined

The League of Nations—established in 1920 after World War I—was the first global organization aimed at maintaining world peace. Although US President Woodrow Wilson championed its creation, the United States never joined.

Despite being completely legal to discuss salaries with your coworkers, the practice largely remains taboo in the US, particularly amongst older workers.

Pay transparency—once considered taboo—is gaining momentum. Despite being legally protected since 1935, open salary discussions have only recently become more common, especially among younger workers. This overview explores how cultural norms, economic shifts, and new state laws are reshaping the conversation around what we earn.

Homeschooling was illegal in some US states until 1993.

Southern Black Codes sought to preserve prewar racial labor structures

With little federal oversight, Southern states enacted laws effectively reestablishing slavery's economic and social order. These laws, known as the "Black Codes," restricted freed people's movement, labor, and property rights.

The Industrial Revolution changed childhood—including education

Industrialization transformed childhood—from free-range, mixed-age play long embedded in human culture to the regimented, adult-controlled environments of today's schools.

Roosevelt joined the NAACP and campaigned for anti-lynching laws—even receiving a $25K bounty from the KKK

Eleanor Roosevelt joined the NAACP board, lobbied for a federal anti-lynching law, and pushed to integrate the Army Nurse Corps—often going beyond the support her husband was willing to give to racial justice efforts. Her advocacy made her a target: The Ku Klux Klan placed a $25,000 bounty on her head.

6 union history facts

Founded in 1794, the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (who were leather workers and cobblers) is considered to be the first union in the United States.

In the 1930s, Congress nearly passed a constitutional amendment requiring a national vote before declaring war

The Ludlow Amendment, proposed amid rising isolationism after World War I, would have required a national referendum before Congress could declare war, except in cases of direct attack. It was defeated 209 to 188 in 1938 after Roosevelt lobbied against it.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was America's first major immigration restriction

The act, signed in 1882, barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States, marking the first significant restriction on free immigration. This overview examines 19th-century Chinese immigration, rising anti-Chinese sentiment, and the diplomatic implications of exclusionary legislation.

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act abolished national-origin quotas and transformed the demographics of America

Following decades of citizens pressing for reform, President Johnson signed legislation abolishing national-origin quotas, enabling increased immigration from Asia and Africa. The LBJ Presidential Library features photos, videos, audio clips, and text from the 1965 signing ceremony.

In the early 1900s, Fourth of July celebrations were so dangerous that a reform movement emerged to make them safer.

Edwin Porter's 1903 adaptation of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' was one of the earliest American full-length narrative films.

The Clean Water Act became the national standard for protecting American waters

Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act grants the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate pollutant discharges, establish water quality standards, and oversee water pollution controls. Its scope has narrowed due to recent Supreme Court rulings.

Common Core was a nationwide effort to align learning standards across states

Launched in 2009 by state governors and education commissioners, Common Core created shared K–12 standards in math and English to ensure consistent academic expectations. Though nationally coordinated, adoption was voluntary and federally unmandated.

At 18, Eleanor taught immigrant children in one of New York's poorest neighborhoods

After finishing school in London, Roosevelt returned to New York and volunteered at a settlement house on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side, working directly with immigrant families living in poverty.

UNICEF collects donations for children at Halloween

For generations, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has been one of the main ways American children are introduced to the work of the United Nations. The Halloween campaign encourages them to collect donations for children in need—instead of just candy.

Food stamps were revived as a JFK pilot as one of his first actions upon taking office in 1961, but the program had its largest expansion under President Richard Nixon in the late 1960s and early 1970s.