Uneasy Allies: Working for Labor Reform in Nineteenth-Century Boston

Throughout the nineteenth century, working-class activists and middle-class reformers in Boston strived to build alliances in the campaign for labor reform. Though some of these organizations have been familiar to historians for more than a century, this is the first study to trace these cross-class groups from their origins in the early 1830s to the dawn of the Progressive Era. In addition to analyzing what motivated these workers and reformers to create cross-class organizations, David Zonderman examines the internal tactical debates and external political pressures that fractured them, even as new alliances were formed, and shows how these influences changed over time. He describes what workers and reformers learned about politics and social change within these complex and volatile alliances, and speculates as to whether those lessons have relevance for activists and reformers today. What emerges from this investigation is a narrative of progress and decline that spans nearly three-quarters of a century, as an ever-shifting constellation of associations debated the meaning of labor reform and the best strategy to secure justice for workers. But the quest for ideological consistency and organizational coherence was not easily achieved. By century's end, not only did Boston look dramatically different from its antebellum ancestor, but its labor reform alliances had lost some of their earlier openhearted optimism and stubborn resilience.

About the Author :
David A. Zonderman is professor of history at North Carolina State University and author of Aspirations and Anxieties: New England Workers and the Mechanized Factory System, 1815-1850.

Review :
"In this thoroughly researched and engagingly written study, we have the opportunity to see how communitarians, antislavery activists, shorter workday advocates, and those outraged by the exploitation of women and children attempted to cooperate with working-class organizations. This important work not only helps us understand the past but also think about the future of work, reform, and political strategies."--Ken Fones-Wolf, author of Glass Towns: Industry, Labor and Political Economy in Central Appalachia, 1890 1930s "This is an important book. By illuminating how laboring people and non-working class reformers joined together in nineteenth-century America to strive for social justice, David Zonderman throws valuable light on a topic that has too often received only intermittent and sidelong attention. The story is complex, but his analysis is cogent and persuasive. We will be referring to these pages for years to come."--Jonathan Prude, author of The Coming of the Industrial Order: Town and Factory Life in Rural Massachusetts, 1810-1860 "In this thoroughly researched book, Zonderman identifies with the rise and fall of myriad labor reform organizations and introduces a cadre of little-known, yet deeply committed activists who made up the heart and soul of the Boston labor reform movement during the nineteenth century. . . . Uneasy Allies is a sweeping history of Boston's labor reform organizations that should be of interest to labor historians and historians of nineteenth-century New England."--The Journal of American History "David A. Zonderman has written a rich case study on an underexplored topic- nineteenth-century labor reform in Boston- by investigating the alliances between working and middle-class reformers. . .If someone is looking for a history of nineteenth-century Boston's working class and union history, Zonderman's text will provide helpful insights."--American Historical Review "Ultimately, Zonderman reminds us that labor reformers were pragmatic idealists who imagined a society in which workers flourished in every sphere of American life. . . . This volume would prove useful as a survey in undergraduate classes or as a case study in graduate seminars; scholars and students alike will appreciate the introductory essay that outlines the historiography of the labor reform movement. Zonderman's work fills a significant gap in the history of labor politics."--The New England Quarterly "David A. Zonderman's new book will stand for years to come as the definitive work on 19th century labor reform in Boston. . . . Zonderman's work offers the most extensive contribution thus far for one key reason: it is the first to explain the coalition's development over a sustained period--from the 1830s to 1900--connecting the dots between these often short-lived leagues and organizations, thus allowing a fuller critique of their successes and shortcomings. The result is a challenging, new articulation of this important aspect of labour activism before the 20th century."--Labour / le Travail "Uneasy Allies makes several important contributions to both labor history and the history of social reform. Not only does this detailed account of labor reform add to our understanding of labor in the nineteenth century, but also. . . is to date one of the best refutations of Common's theory of the labor movement. Uneasy Allies goes a long way to restore the full range of the visions of working people and a much more nuanced and complex understanding of the cross-class coalitions that often developed. . . . Uneasy Allies should be in the hands of every labor activist interested in building stronger labor coalitions. For it not only shows how coalitions were present at the founding of the American labor movement, but Zonderman's superb analysis of the labor reform in nineteenth-century Boston has much to teach contemporary activists."--Tom Juravich, Business History Review "Zonderman persuasively shows that despite repeated setbacks and ample, persistent differences, Bostonians did not forsake the cross-class fight for reform until the turn of the twentieth century."--Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era "Zonderman's broad reach is complemented by his detailed knowledge of each period. Far more than simply summarizing the extant scholarship, which he knows and uses well, Zonderman draws on the newspapers and often the minutes of labor reform organizations. As a result, he is able to bring a fresh perspective to his synthesis, providing the kind of coherence that is simply not able to be gained from reading multiple monographs on this topic."--The Historian