Archives: History of Work in America

David Burbank wrote "Reign of the Rabble, the St. Louis General Strike of 1877" (Augustus M. Kelley, Publishers, New York, 1966) and his collection includes microfilm copies of original newspapers and other research related to the strike.

Series 4 (Files of the Industrial Relations Department, 1923 - 1967) are particularly relevant. Other series include topics such as hiring discrimination, civil service hires, and vocational education.

School of Social Economy Thesis, by William August Crossland, with handwritten notes & corrections. Includes survey data from residents of St. Louis gathered in 1911 and 1912. Thesis located at University Archives, Call No. LD5791.8 AM13 C884

The Manual Training School in St. Louis (1879 – 1917) established by C. Woodward was a new model of schooling to provide practical training in manual and machine arts, to prepare a new generation of workers.

Eliot is a co-founder of WashU. His papers include diaries, letters, his sermons, talks, & biographical info.

Includes published reports on social conditions in St. Louis, created by the "St. Louis School of Social Economy," a predecessor to the Brown School.
Titles located in Box 03 include:
“The St. Louis School of Social Economy: What it Attempts, What it Has Achieved, Why it needs Your Support” (1915)

“The Newsboy of St. Louis” (1910)

This collection documents the civic work of Mrs. Washington E. Fischel in the early 1900s, and that of her daughter, Mrs. Edna Fischel Gellhorn.

Mrs. Fischel was active in the Wednesday Club, a St. Louis organization formed in 1880, the playground movement, and the efforts to train women in scientific housekeeping methods (See especially box 16)

Her daughter, Edna Gellhorn, graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1900, was active in the women's suffrage movement, becoming a founder and first vice president of the National League of Women Voters. During World War I, she served as regional director of the food rationing programs. And she remained active in civic reform efforts through the 1960s.