Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
In Bunting v. Oregon (1917), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 10-hour work day for men and women and required businesses to pay time-and-a-half for overtime up to three hours a day. It granted states the right to let workers and their employers implement a wage scheme agreeable to both. However, minimum wage laws were not changed until 20 years later. Read more about labor conditions and labor laws over the last century in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS https://www.asewovenwords.com/novels/).
In November 1909, 23-year-old labor activist Clara Lemlich Shavelson led a strike of 20,000 women to protest the working conditions in New York City’s garment industry. Male union leaders had cautioned against the strike, but in February 2010 the “Uprising of the 20,000” got factory owners to agree to a 52-hour work week and recognition of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), which subsequently achieved better safety regulations and higher wages. One holdout was the Triangle Waist Company, where just a year later, in 1911, a fire killed 146 workers, mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women. Read more about the Triangle Waist Company fire and immigration in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS). Learn more about this labor pioneer in BEHIND THE STORY.
Great audience turnout and lively Q & A for the Tazia and Gemma book reading and signing at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor on July 31. I read narrative passages from the first Tazia section and my daughter Rebecca joined me to read the mother-daughter interview from the first Gemma section. I encourage city residents and visitors alike to visit this premier downtown independent bookstore. Thanks to Literati for hosting and to all who attended the Tazia and Gemma event. For a complete list of my publication events see NEWS; to read more about my books see NOVELS.
