For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care Reform

Pauline Newman, a Lithuanian immigrant, was a garment worker and union organizer before becoming director of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ medical clinic in New York City. Photo ca. 1910

Courtesy Kheel Center, Cornell University

Health was a major concern of industrial workers who toiled in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. In the absence of universal health protection, some labor unions developed worker-run medical facilities, including hospitals and clinics.