Life In The Iron Mills

Rebecca Harding Davis (1831-1910) was an American author and journalist, and a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. Her seminal work Life in the Iron Mills originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1861, gaining her immediate acclaim. Lauded as “a brave new voice” by both Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Davis held a prolific career with over 500 published works, including “Waiting for the Verdict,” John Andross, and Silhouettes of American Life, and worked as an editor for the New York Tribune. Though she fell out of public knowledge by her death, Davis was reintroduced to the literary circles in the 1970s by feminist writer Tillie Olsen, re-emphasizing her heavy significance to American literature.

Tillie Olsen (1912-2007) was an American writer, activist, editor, and part of the first generation of American feminists. Her most notable works include “Tell Me a Riddle,” Yonondio: From the Thirties, and Silences. She was awarded nine honorary degrees, National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Kim Kelly is the labor columnist for Teen Vogue and a columnist on labor and class at the New Republic. Her writing on labor, politics, and culture have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Baffler, and many others. She is a proud member of and councilperson for the Writers Guild of America, East, and has been active in multiple organizing and contract campaigns since 2015. She is currently based in Philadelphia.