We are proud to announce that former LAWCHA President Alice Kessler-Harris has been awarded the 2016 Sol Stetin Award for Labor History.
Born into an Eastern European immigrant family living in war-time Great Britain, Alice Kessler-Harris played a foundational role in shaping the field of women’s labor history. She began her career as an historian rescuing from obscurity the Jewish needle trades women who built the International Ladies Garment Workers Union—in the process discovering anew the pivotal role played by those passionate women radicals who battled both male privilege and sweatshop exploitation. From century-old penny papers, Kessler-Harris recovered the voices of these anonymous young women. “Jewish women courted the unions,” wrote Kessler-Harris, “that should have been courting them.”
For more information about the award and on Kessler-Harris’ remarkable accomplishment, see the official 2016 Sol Stetin Award Announcement.
