The considerable social significance of the 1909 women's strike cannot be overstated, and Dash emphasizes the fact that women of various educational and ethnic backgrounds as well as social classes came together to strive toward a common goal: to improve the lot of those employed in the shirtwaist industry, many of whom were poor, young immigrants. The striking women surmounted language barriers and triumphed over economic and class differences in order to bring their cause to a national audience, the most helpful of which was the "the mink brigade," rich socialites who felt compelled to lend a hand (and a purse) to the strikers in a fight for nothing less than social justice for all working women. This struggle is at the heart of the origins of the women's movement in the United States.

It is interesting to contrast the considerable support the strikers received from the...