Final Project, History 2100, Spring 2017, William Paterson University

1. The Paterson Silk Strike of
1913
An Overview of the
By: Tyler Keraitis

2. Introduction
Although the evidence presents itself around the city in the form of
abandoned factories, many people today may find it difficult to believe that Paterson,
New Jersey was once one of the largest industrial cities in the world. From firearms, to
locomotives, to textiles Paterson was seen as juggernaut in the manufacturing sector
producing goods that supplied American citizens and the rest of the world with their
everyday needs. So what happened to this once booming city? Many point to a labor
dispute in the early 20th century as the tipping point for what would eventually lead to
the decline of industrial Paterson. The Paterson Silk Strike had a significant impact on
the city of Paterson itself but also on the labor industry in general. This presentation
will detail what led to the strike, the events the transpired during it, and the effects it
had on the city in its aftermath.

3. The Paterson skyline as seen today from the top of Garret Mountain in
Woodland Park, New Jersey

4. Dependence on England
During the Colonial era, manufacturing in America was restricted by
England. American Colonist’s produced raw materials and shipped them to
England, who then used them to manufacture goods which were shipped back
to America and sold to Colonists. Following the American Revolution,
Alexander Hamilton recognized this dependence on England for manufactured
goods and wished to establish an independence from it. While scouting out
several potential locations across the East Coast he came across the Great Falls
and envisioned a great industrial city that could harness it’s power and provide
the newly created nation with it necessities.

5. Pictured on the left is Alexander Hamilton with a
picture of the Great Falls of Paterson in the
background.

6. An Industrial City is Born
In 1791, as United States Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton founded the
Society for the Establishment for Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.) which
purchased 700 acres of land around the Great Falls and began the construction
of a dam and mill that would provide power for the manufacturing industry in
the area he hoped to create. A charter signed in 1792 officially designated a six
square mile area around the Falls as the city of Paterson. The Great Falls
provided more power then any city in New Jersey and its close proximity to
major markets like New York City and Philadelphia made it a prime location
for any manufacturer to produce its goods.

7. A picture of the Paterson, NJ skyline circa 1880 with illustrations of popular
buildings around the city at the time

8. The Silk City
By 1900, Paterson was among the top 5 purely industrial cities in
America and was one of the fastest growing cities on the East Coast. This was
due in large part to the abundance of water power the city had access to, which
before steam power was the only source of power for industrial operations. As
silk became the “Queen of Fiber’s” and dominated high fashion and luxury
trade, it developed an important industry within Paterson which would become
known as the ”Silk City” of the world. By 1910, Paterson had 300 silk factories
employing over 18,000 workers during a time of prosperity and economic
growth within the city.

9. A view of the silk factories in the Paterson in the early
20th century.

10. The Silk Weavers of Paterson
Many of the workers within the silk factories were immigrants who
relied on the factories to support their families. The workers were burdened
with a 55 hour work week and children as young as 9 were forced to work in
the factories in order to help provide for their struggling families. When the
already over burdened workers were pushed to their limits and forced to walk
off their jobs, all of Paterson’s 125,000 residents shared in the sacrifice and
participated in the activism that followed.

11. Workers from a silk factory in Paterson

12. The Paterson Silk Strike
During a period between 1909 and 1913, the garment and textile
industries across America began to engage in dozens of strikes due to declining
wages and working conditions, like the “Shirtwaist Strike” in New York City
and the “Bread and Roses Strike” in Lawrence, Massachusetts. On February
25th 1913, after witnessing the victory of the Bread and Roses strikers, workers
of the Silk Industry in Paterson went on strike in hopes of achieving an 8 hour
work day and better working conditions within their factories.

13. Strikers and other members of the community gather around a
house in Haledon, New Jersey to listen to leaders of the strike
speak

14. A Battle of Good vs. Evil
Paterson had a history of conflicts between mill owners and textile
workers, but the strike in 1913 would become the biggest and longest in the
city’s history. The stoppage began when weavers in Paterson’s largest silk mill
went on strike to protest the mill’s owner, Henry Doherty, who was attempting
to double the number of looms each worker tended to. Weavers from other
mills soon joined the cause fearing that the new standard would increase
unemployment and decrease wages across the industry. More then 20,000
workers would join in on the industry wide strike that effectively halted the
production of silk in Paterson.

15. Women and children march through the streets of Paterson to show a sign
of solidarity with the Silk Strike of 1913

16. The Industrial Workers of the World Get
Involved
Following their success at the Lawrence Textile Strike in 1912 and after hearing about the
developing silk worker strike in Paterson, the leaders of The Industrial Workers of the World
came to New Jersey to offer their assistance to the cause. Leaders of the union like ”Big Bill”
Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn took over running the strike and both were arrested
during the their time there for reasons related to their involvement. Flynn held successful
weekly meetings for only women and on Sunday’s thousands of strikers, men and women from
other industries in Paterson, and people from all around New Jersey gathered to hear the
leaders speak. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was quoted in her autobiography as saying that anyone in
attendance of these meetings never forgot them. Officials within Paterson tried to claim that
the source of much of the unrest in the city was due to propaganda put out by the IWW but
despite their abuse of the union’s leaders the strike continued to carry on.

17. Leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World join strikers on their march to Madison Square
Garden to perform in the The Paterson Pageant to benefit the Paterson Silk Strike.. From left to right
pictured is Adolph Lessig, Bill Haywood, and Carlos Tresca.

18. The Pageant of the Paterson Silk Strike
In 1913 John Reed, a journalist, poet, and social activist who had spent time during his youth in
New Jersey attending the Morristown-Beard School, met ”Big Bill” Haywood the founding member
and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World union. After learning about the strike he traveled
to Paterson himself to get a first hand view of it and decided after that he would like to organize a
massive pageant to publicize the cause and raise money to support it. He was able to secure financial
backing from art patrons such as Mabel Dodge, and had famous artists of the time help to design
the set that would be used. The play opened on June 7th, 1913 to nearly 15,000 people in Madison
Square Garden and was seen as a thrilling moment where radical politics energized those in
attendance. The strikers themselves re-enacted their experiences, sang in many different languages,
and led the crowd in the singing of the popular left-wing anthem “Internationale.” Although the
pageant ultimately lost money, it was seen by many as an important moment where labor radicalism
and the arts were aligned as one.

19. A program cover for the Pageant of the Paterson
Strike designed by artist Robert Edmond Jones
portrays a factory worker climbing out of the frame
towards the viewer and also features the Industrial
Workers of the World’s acronym.

20. The Authorities Respond
Throughout the duration of the strike thousands of strikers and
sympathizers were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the
peace and were issued fines and even jail sentences for as long as six months.
Leaders of the strike like ”Big Bill” Haywood , Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Carlos
Tresca, Patrick Quinlan, and Adolph Lessig were charged with inciting riots and
advocacy of personal injury or property destruction. Two men were even killed
because of the strike, with one suffering a gun shot wound from a private
guard and the other being shot by a strikebreaker.

21. Police mounted on horseback patrol the streets of Paterson
during the strike

22. The End of the Strike
After holding out for just over 5 months, the workers of the Silk industry
began to return to work without their demands being met by factory owners. By many
accounts the failure of the strike lied in the hands of the division between the silk
weavers and dyer helpers who disagreed on long term goals. The I.W.W. also took a hit
to its reputation following the loss as many people felt they had failed to raise
sufficient funds for the strike and also had failed to organize with workers in the
runaway shop sectors of Pennsylvania. The justice system in New Jersey also dealt a
significant blow to the strike as courts worked frantically to imprison strike leaders for
reasons related to their involvement.

23. Dye helpers are pictured here working in the silk
factories

24. The Aftermath
Although silk weavers were able to curb the 4 weave loom system in
factories, they were unsuccessful in implementing the 8 hour work day that had
served as a central rallying point of the protest. They were however able to
retain their right to free speech on the street as well as inside the factories
themselves. It wouldn’t be until 1919 that the silk industry would finally earn an
8 hour work day but by that time the industry was already in a major decline in
the city of Paterson.

25. A typical silk factory in Eastern Pennsylvania where many Paterson factory owner’s moved
their business’

26. The End of an Era
Following the strike many silk factory owners began moving their business’s
across state lines from Paterson to eastern Pennsylvania. With plenty of cheap labor
available and infrastructure to support their manufacturing demand, factory owner’s
saw more opportunity for profit and less risk of labor strife in this booming industrial
area. Along with the introduction of Rayon, a synthetic silk, Paterson struggled to keep
up with developments in the textile field and eventually saw its competitive advantage
over other industrial towns deteriorate. The Great Depression of 1929 proved to be
the final nail in the coffin with the demise of the textile industry and a rise in
unemployment across the city. Industry within Paterson would never truly recover
from the depression and a place once envisioned to be the largest industrial city in the
nation was left simply with abandoned factories serving as a reminder of the city’s
past.

27. The abandoned silk factories in Paterson following the demise of the silk
industry in the city

28. Sources
InsideOutReport. United States: InsideOut Ptv. April 15, 2014. Accessed March 19,
2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rWi2Af65mw.
Golin, Steve. "DEFEAT BECOMES DIASTER: THE PATERSON STRIKE OF 1913 AND THE
DECLINE OF THE IWW." Labor History 24, no. 2 (Spring83 1983): 223. Business Source Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed March 19, 2017).
Tobin, Eugene M. "DIRECT ACTION AND CONSCIENCE." Labor History 20, no. 1 (Winter79
1979): 73. Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 19, 2017).
Owusu, Thomas Y. "Economic Transition in the City of Paterson, New Jersey (America’s First Planned
Industrial City): Causes, Impacts, and Urban Policy Implications." Urban Studies Research 2014 (September
3, 2014).

29. Sources (cont’d)
Worth-Baker, Marcia. "Striking Out: Paterson’s Famous Labor Dispute." New Jersey Monthly, January 17,
2013. https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/striking-out/.
Goldberg, David J. "Review of The IWW and the Paterson-Silk-Strike of 1913, by A.H. Tripp." Review
of "The IWW and the Paterson-Silk-Strike of 1913, by A.H. Tripp. Cleveland State University History Publications,
1990.
"Paterson, New Jersey: America's Silk City." National Parks Service. Accessed May 01, 2017.
https://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/102paterson/102paterson.htm.