Chicago's German-Jewish Labor History

Celebrate Labor History Month with us this May with this presentation by Ben Schacht and Matthew Schlerf on their research into German-Jewish labor relations in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century.

This presentation will provide context for their summer 2026 walking tours about Chicago's German-Jewish labor history, produced by Chicago Shpatz with support from the Goethe-Institut Chicago. Their guided tour of Randolph Street will use methods of street theater and historical reenactment to illustrate how Jewish immigrants and activists moved from the background of the 1886 Haymarket Affair to the foreground of the 1910 Chicago Garment Strike. Topics covered will include the political and industrial revolutions of 1848, German and Jewish immigration to Chicago, the Civil War and the Great Chicago Fire, the use of Turnverein (or Turner Halls) and Hull-House as hubs for social activism, Chicago's German and Yiddish press, the eight-hour day movement, and the class divide (an…