PCN
WATCH DONATE CART
Sign InRegister
Politics & Policy History & Culture PA Sports & PIAA State Championships Battle of Gettysburg Pennsylvania's Neighborhood America's 250th in Pennsylvania Civics 101 Weather World
Schedule Shop About Donate Contact
Programs Politics & Policy History & Culture PA Sports & PIAA State Championships Battle of Gettysburg Pennsylvania's Neighborhood America's 250th in Pennsylvania Civics 101 Weather World

Cart

SCHEDULE
06:45 PMWeather World
07:00 PMOn the Issues: Hospitals and the PA Budget
07:30 PMOn the Issues: Federal Funding Cuts for Immigration Programs
08:00 PMKeystone Cuisine: Big Dan's BBQ
08:28 PMKeystone Cuisine: The Dobbin House Tavern
09:00 PMIt's History! Early Firefighting in Philadelphia
09:30 PMIt's History! Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum
10:00 PMIt's History! The Hershey Story Museum

ADVERTISEMENT

PCN app
PCN app
Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook
You are here: Home / Archive PA Books / PA Books: “Sewn in Coal Country” with Robert Wolensky

PA Books: “Sewn in Coal Country” with Robert Wolensky

By the mid-1930s, Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal industry was facing a steady decline. Mining areas such as the Wyoming Valley around the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Pittston were full of willing workers (including women) who proved irresistibly attractive to New York City’s “runaway shops”—ladies’ apparel factories seeking lower labor and other costs. The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) soon followed, and the Valley became a thriving hub of clothing production and union activity. This volume tells the story of the area’s apparel industry through the voices of men and women who lived it. Drawing from an archive of over sixty audio-recorded interviews within the Northeastern Pennsylvania Oral and Life History Collection, Sewn in Coal Country showcases sixteen stories told by workers, shop owners, union leaders, and others. The interview subjects recount the ILGWU-led movement to organize the shops, the conflicts between the district union and the national office in New York, the solidarity unionism approach of leader Min Matheson, the role of organized crime within the business, and the failed efforts to save the industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Robert P. Wolensky places the narratives in the larger context of American clothing manufacturing during the period and highlights their broader implications for the study of labor, gender, the working class, and oral history.

Robert P. Wolensky is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and Adjunct Professor of History at King’s College, Wilkes-Barre. He is the coauthor of "Fighting for the Union Label: The Women’s Garment Industry and the ILGWU in Pennsylvania."

Description courtesy of Penn State University Press.

PA Books airs Sunday nights at 7.

Watch PA Books and more PA History and Culture on cable and the PCN Select Streaming Service.

ABOUT PCN
About
History
Our People
Awards
Privacy Policy
Certifications
WATCH PCN
How to Watch
Schedule
Channel Listing
Stream Now
Subscribe
Shop PCN
CONNECT
Careers
Contact Us
FAQ
Request Coverage
Support
Satellite Truck
Production Truck
PROGRAMS
Politics and Policy
History and Culture
Sports
Gettysburg Collection
FOLLOW US
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram

For closed captioning issues, please call 717-730-6000 or email closedcaption@pcntv.com
©2025 Pennsylvania Educational Communications Systems. All rights reserved.