NY Times writes Lara Vapnek's new book — "Breadwinners: Working Women and Economic Independence, 1865-1920" — reads like prequel to "When Everything Changed"

According to New York Times' writer Sam Roberts, Lara Vapnek's new book — "Breadwinners: Working Women and Economic Independence, 1865-1920" — reads like a prequel to Gail Collins' "When Everything Changed".

Vapnek chronicles the beginnings of the women's labor movement through capsule biographies of largely forgotten individuals who had a profound impact on the lives of working women and laid the groundwork for contemporary feminism. Her account is national in scope.

From the end of the Civil War through the winning of woman's suffrage, working women in the Nation's cities launched a series of campaigns to gain economic independence and political equality. More than a century ago, these women demanded equal pay for equal work and full rights of citizenship, proudly identifying themselves as "breadwinners" capable of supporting themselves and their families.

Modern readers are likely to connect very personally with the nature of the struggles of these pioneering women from the past. Vapnek's history traces the origins of the issues that effect today's households as women have increasingly stepped into the role of "breadwinner" but still lack the same pay for the same job as their male counterparts.

One of the compelling and central figures in the book is Lenora O'Reilly, based in New York City and living in Brooklyn, who left school at age 11 to work in a garment factory and support her widowed mother and family. She emerged as a leader of the famous 1909 shirtwaist makers' strike of 1909. She was a popular speaker of the day, invited to address large crowds across the country, making stirring comments such as: "Women, whether you wish it or not, your first step must be to gain equal political rights with men. The next step after that must be equal pay for equal work."

Class differences complicated this battle. Middle class female reformers endorsed working women's efforts to gain higher wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions in factories and stores, but resisted servants' calls for similar improvements in domestic employment. Breadwinners identifies households as significant sites of class conflict and documents the ways working-class women raised their voices on their own behalf.

The book is currently available for purchase from University of Illinois press and most national booksellers. Lara Vapnek is available for speaking engagements or book talks and signings to discuss the themes and characters of the this excellent new volume.

Lara Vapnek is an assistant professor of history at St. John's University in Queens, NY. "Breadwinners" is her first book to be published.

A VOLUME IN THE SERIES:
WOMEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Breadwinners: Working Women and
Economic Independence, 1865-1920
Cloth, ISBN 978-0-252-03471-8 $70.00
Paper, ISBN 978-0-525-07661-9 $25.00
232 pages, 10 photographs.