Catherwood LibraryILR School

Debra E. Bernhardt and Rachel Bernstein

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives brings to life the stories of men and women who, with their hard work and dreams, built New York City in the 20th century. This pictorial history records the everyday lives and struggles of construction workers, longshoremen, sales clerks, garment workers, and other working-class New Yorkers. It provides a glimpse into the traditions and organizations — especially the labor unions — which provided these mostly foreign-born people with a sense of solidarity and security, both emotional and financial. Many of the photographs in this volume are drawn from the collections of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives in the Catherwood Library.(db, 6/00)