First Labor Organizations

As early as 1850, there were efforts to bring together and organize groups that fought for the betterment of working conditions throughout Indiana. There was a group of Indiana artisans that formed the Indiana chapter of Mechanics’ Mutual Protection. Started in New York, this organization was organized to protest the inclusion of convict labor with machine factory work as early as the 1830s. The organization quickly moved to Indiana and fought to increase wages, obtain better educational opportunities for workers, and look after the families of workers who were ill and could not work.

The opportunities that the Mechanics' Mutual Protection sought to have implemented were the first major revisions that the state of Indiana saw in labor reform. This organization sought out local lawmakers who would eventually implement laws throughout the state. They strived for these changes despite the thought of the mid-19th century that factories and businesses were independent and should be free from government oversight. The Mechanics' Mutual Protection and the organizations that would later join the fight in labor reform had a long and hard fight to achieve their goals.

This stop contains an important part of the early formations of labor organizations. At this stop, the Kenosha History Center holds an early constitution of the Mechanics' Mutual Protection from 1849. This constitution would have been very similar to the one the Mechanics' Mutual Protection organization used in Indianapolis, Indiana, when they formed in 1850.