Today in Labor History December 28, 1907: The New York Rent Strike began in the Lower Eastside, in response to proposed rent increases during the Panic of 1907, when tens of thousands lost their jobs. The organizers were Jewish immigrant women, but leadership was eventually taken over by the Socialist Party of America. One of the early organizers of the rent strike was Pauline Newman, who had been working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory since age 11. By age 15, she was active in Socialist organizations. She survived the deadly fire at the Triangle factory in 1911, which killed 146 young women and girls, mostly Jewish and Italian immigrants, and became an effective organizer with the ILGWU. She helped organize a 1909 General Strike among women garment worikers. Her organizing earned her the moniker “East Side Joan of Arc.”
The Lower Eastside rent strike soon spread to other parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, with roughly 10,000 tenants taking part. The landlords ultimately broke the strike through mass evictions and police brutality. Nevertheless, approximately 2,000 people did successfully block rent increases. The rent strike was the larges the city had ever seen until then, and it helped to spawn decades of radical tenant organizing in New York.
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