The National Park Service tells the stories of workers and the labor movement that strived to improve their lives.
From the free and enslaved laborers who built the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and laid the tracks of the first transcontinental railroad, to the “mill girls” who made cloth in Lowell’s textile factories, to the striking employees of Chicago’s Pullman Company, to the founder of the country's first permanent agricultural union, you’ll find their stories here.
Histories of work and working peoples
Visit Labor History Sites
Looking to visit a park? Find and explore places that tell the stories of working people in the United States.
Ballot Blocked Podcast
Explore the history of women's voting rights before and after passage of the 19th amendment.
Labor History in National Parks
Read a short essay on how labor history is a common theme that connects all National Parks.
Marching for Justice in the Fields
In 1966, striking farmworkers in California made history when they set out on a 300-mile march to the state capital in Sacramento.
West Virginia Mine Wars
In the early decades of the 20th century, miners and their families struggled to unionize the southern West Virginia coal fields.
Women in the Labor Movement
Discover the stories of people and places that have been part of the struggle to make life better for women at work.
Last updated: September 21, 2021