Clara Lemlich Shavelson

Friday, January 01, 1909

Clara Lemlich Shavelson was born in Russia (modern day Ukraine) in 1886 and immigrated to the United States in 1903. She was horrified by the working conditions she and other immigrant women experienced in the garment industry in New York City’s Lower East Side. She became a leader in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. In 1909, Lemlich organized the largest general strike ever to protest the poor working conditions in garment factories.