“Arab Americans contributed to strike practices we see as quintessentially American,” said Stacy Fahrenthold, associate professor of history in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis.

In her book, Unmentionables: Textiles, Garment Work, and the Syrian American Working Class, Fahrenthold unravels the history of Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian immigrants’ activism in the global textile industry and labor strikes. Her book reveals how women garment workers, child laborers and union activists struggled against white and even Arab American bosses, as well as why their impact has gone ignored. 

Before 1912, Arab Americans worked under harsh, inhumane conditions in textile factories with no minimum wage or child labor laws. They also faced racial discrimination as white workers were prioritized for higher-paid jobs. These workers grappled with shop bosses who were not only from outside their ethnic community, but also from within it. 

“Arab American activists played a significant role but they hadn’t been acknowledged by history because they had to evade the lime-light,” said Fahrenthold. “This book was animated by a desire to capture the histories of workers and people who organized as part of the labor movement.” 

Access the book at the Stanford University Press