bowlers

?? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair

Ardent Socialist and social reformer; author of the shocking bestseller, "The Jungle," (1906) a novel that exposed deplorable conditions in the meatpacking industry in Chicago. In 1914, the date of this photo, the movie version of "The Jungle" was released. Sinclair himself appeared at the beginning and end of the film. Born in Baltimore, Sinclair as a child moved with his family to New York City, and grew up there.

Thank you victuallers2 and Wystan for the information on Upton Sinclair. We will add some of it to the image description when we update.

Another 1914 Bain/LOC photo of Upton Sinclair in New York City:

Do you mean to tell me that the LOC needs to be told about Upton Sinclair? Something is very, very wrong here.

Another Bain Collection photo of Federal League officials:

Weeghman's name is spelled correctly on the negative, but is misspelled several times in the LOC notes. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Weeghman en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_League See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Gilmore

artlog: Thanks for pointing out our spelling error. We'll correct the mistakes next time we update.

does anyone have translations of the hebrew or italian signs?

The Italian sign on the left is a demand for a trade union closed shop. Literally: "We ask that the shops are occupied only by unionists." The signs with Hebrew letters are likely to be in Yiddish - that was the language of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to the US. Yiddish is written in Hebrew letters, in the same way that English is written in "Roman" letters. The one on the left has an English message on its other visible side which looks like it is probably something along the lines of "We demand closed shops and open doors", judging by the message on the Italian sign.

This is a lovely set of pics - big thanks to the Library of Congress for putting them up here. But I'd have thought the LoC might have access to some translation service or researchers with language skills... it's a pity if it doesn't.

I think the other Italian sign might be something like: "Down with the spies and those who have sold out to the bosses/been bought by the bosses." But it would be good to hear from someone who actually speaks Italian...

OK, last guess for today: the Yiddish sign at the back could well be calling for an eight-hour day. That would be the likeliest reason for a big number 8 on a strikers' placard in 1913. Come on Yiddish and Italian speakers - we need you! And a happy May Day 2009 to workers of all countries and languages!