Noble and Holy Order

of the Knights of Labor

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The Knights of Labor was a prominent American labor union in the late 19th century that advocated for significant worker rights improvements,

including shorter workdays, ending child labor, and promoting equal pay for women, aiming to achieve broader social and economic reforms beyond just wages.

The Knights of Labor was open to a wide range of workers, including women, immigrants, and African Americans, unlike most unions at the time.

Unlike many other unions at the time, the Knights of Labor aimed for wide-ranging societal changes, not just better working conditions for specific skilled trades.

Membership

Unlike many other unions at the time, the Knights welcomed workers regardless of skill level, race, or gender, including women and African Americans.

Goals

Their primary goals included establishing an eight-hour workday, ending child labor, improving working conditions, and advocating for equal pay for women.

Social Reform Focus

Beyond just wages, the Knights actively pursued broader social and economic reforms, sometimes even supporting cooperative ownership of businesses.

Decline

The Knights of Labor saw a significant decline after the Haymarket Affair in 1886, a violent labor protest in Chicago that tarnished the organization’s reputation.

United States Department of Labor

Hall of Honor Inductee

Terence V. Powderly

“The revolution inaugurated by the Knights of Labor… won more for the cause of human liberty than the revolutions which spilled the blood of humanity’s advocates through all the centuries of time.”

Terence V. Powderly (1849 — 1924)

As leader of the Knights of Labor, the nation’s first successful trade union organization, Terence V. Powderly thrust the workers’ needs to the fore for the first time in U.S. history. In the 1800s, far in advance for the period, he sought the inclusion of blacks, women and Hispanics for full-fledged membership in his trade union. With labor struggling for a place at America’s economic table, Powderly achieved national stature as the recognized spokesman for the workers’ interest and for the first time made organized labor a political force to be reckoned with.

“If you owe a man a dollar, pay it; if you owe him a grudge, forget it, and always be kind.”

— Terence V. Powderly