This is Who We Were: 1880-1899

This new addition to the This is Who We Were series provides the reader with a deeper understanding of day-to-day life in America during the last two decades of the 19th century. Readers will uncover what life was like for ordinary Americans as they lived through an industrialized revolution, labor strikes, an influx of millions of immigrants, and the expansion of cities and the railroad.

Collecting information from government surveys, social worker histories, economic data, family diaries, letters, newspapers, and magazine features, This is Who We Were: 1880-1899 assembles a remarkable personal and realistic look into America’s past. This new volume features nearly 30 profiles of people living and working in the 1880s and 1890s, painting a complete picture of what it was like to live in America in this period. These stories portray both struggling and successful Americans from various economic classes, occupations, and regions across the country, capturing a wide range of thoughts and emotions.

This new reference source is divided into five major sections, preceded by a thorough Introduction and an essay titled “America, 1880-1899,” and followed by a detailed Bibliography and alphabetical Index.

Section I, Personal Profiles, contains 29 profiles of individuals and families from the time period, beginning with a brief introduction that anchors the text to the year provided. Then, each profile is arranged into three categories, all detailing thorough information about the person profiled: Life at Home, Life at Work, and Life in the Community. Subjects profiled include: a Railroad Construction Engineer in 1883, a Professional Baseball Player in 1888, an Anti-Corset Campaigner in 1896, an African-American Wood Turner in 1898, a Teenage Garment Industry Labor Organizer in 1898, and many more.

Section II, Historical Snapshots, includes lists of important “firsts” for America, from technical advances and political events to new products and top-selling books. Divided into three subsections (Early 1880s, Late 1880s/Early 1890s, Late 1890s), this section highlights significant turning points in American history, such as President James Garfield’s assassination, Susan B. Anthony’s Congress for Women’s Rights in Washington, D.C., and the end of the Spanish-American War.

Section III, Economy of the Times, looks at a wide range of economic data, including food, clothing, transportation, housing, and other selected prices, with reprints...