Today In Labor History: March 26

March 26, 1910—Congress amended the Immigration Act of 1907 to specifically bar entrance of “paupers, anarchists, criminals and the diseased.” The move was specifically designed to limit entry of Eastern and Southern European immigrants, many of whom were becoming radicalized by the deplorable working and living conditions in late 19^th and early 20^th century America. (For more on the radicalization of Eastern and Southern European immigrants in the U.S., see “THE WHOLE WORLD IS OUR COUNTRY”: IMMIGRATION AND ANARCHISM IN THE UNITED STATES, 1885-1940).

March 26, 1912 – A mining disaster at Jed, West Virginia, killed 83 workers.

(Sources: Kenyon Zimmer, Daily Bleed and Workaday Minnesota).