Abstract
During the 19th century, New York City became the largest producer of ready-to-wear clothing in America. This was possible, in part, because of the large labor force created by the influx of thousands of Irish, German, Polish, and Italian immigrants willing to work long hours for low wages in sweatshops and doing piece work in their own homes. Divided along the lines of gender and ethnic identity, men and women, Irish and Polish, competed for every penny they earned. New York’s Five Points neighborhood is known historically for its large population of immigrants who worked in the needletrades. Using the historical and archaeological data collected from the Five Points/Courthouse site, this study examines the sewing trades from the perspective of gender and ethnicity, with attention to differences in industrial and domestic deposits.
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Griggs, H.J. “By virtue of reason and nature”: Competition and economic strategy in the needletrades at New York’s Five Points, 1855–1880. Hist Arch 35, 76–88 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374394
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374394