1871 - 1910

Women: 1896

A measure on the state ballot to extend the vote to women fails. Women suffragists continue to organize.

LGBT Rights: 1898

Los Angeles City Council bans “All Fools Night,” a Carnivalesque celebration involving cross-dressing, and criminalizes cross-dressing.

Immigrants' Rights: 1898

Wong Kim ArkWong Kim ArkU.S. Supreme Court rules in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that individuals born in the Untied States are American citizens.

Women: 1901

Women waitresses strike, shutting down 200 San Francisco restaurants.

Immigrants' Rights: 1902

Congress indefinitely extends the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Labor: 1905

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) or “Wobblies” are founded in Chicago with the aim of forming “one big union” dedicated to the mission of the working class doing away with capitalism. Unlike other unions that bar people of color from membership, the IWW welcomes members of all races and national origins.

Race: 1905

Labor groups and the Native Sons of the Golden West form the Oriental Exclusion League and successfully lobby San Francisco school officials to segregate Japanese American children.  President Theodore Roosevelt intervenes after the Japanese government lodges a formal complaint, and he convinces the school board to allow the Japanese students to attend integrated schools.

Women: 1907

Women workers at laundries and the Ghirardelli chocolate factory strike for better wages and working conditions.

Immigrants' Rights: 1908

BrideBrideUnited States and Japan negotiate the “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” in which Japan voluntarily agrees to limit immigration to the U.S., thereby virtually ending immigration of Japanese laborers to the U.S. However, the wives and families of Japanese immigrants already in the U.S. are allowed to immigrate.

Labor: 1910

Fresno police revoke the IWW’s permit to conduct street meetings after IWW member Elmer Shean is arrested for trying to recruit members on a Fresno street. Wobblies respond by descending on Fresno, getting arrested for street corner orations, and filling the jails.

Los Angeles Bridge and Structural Iron Workers go on strike. At the prompting of business leaders, the city council passes an anti-picketing ordinance.

A bomb destroys the Los Angeles Times building, owned by anti-union publisher Harrison Gray Otis.

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