United States 1912

Synopsis

The Lloyd-La Follette Act was a civil service reform act passed by Congress under the sponsorship of Robert La Follette, a Progressive senator from Wisconsin. The act established procedures for the discharge of federal employees and guaranteed the right of federal employees to communicate with members of Congress, in effect making it the first protective legislation for "whistleblowers." The act also protected the right of federal employees to join unions.

Robert M. La Follette. The Library of Congress.

Timeline

• 1891: French troops open fire on workers during a 1 May demonstration at Fourmies, where employees of the Sans Pareille factory are striking for an eight-hour workday. Nine people are killed—two of them children—and 60 more are injured.
• 1897: In the midst of a nationwide depression, Mrs. Bradley Martin, daughter of Carnegie Steel magnate Henry Phipps, throws a lavish party at New York's recently...