The Unnoticed of the Gilded Age
The progressive era or the gilded age was a time in the 1890s through the 1920s. It was an industrial age and many people were working in factories. Kids would work in these factories. They also worked in coal mines. Many lost their lives in these factories and mines. Millions of immigrants were moving to the US to get jobs. Cities grew quickly, they became more crowded and dirty. In the south, African Americans suffered under Jim Crow Laws. Reformers worked hard to make people aware that the industrial creations were injuring many people and in some cases even killing them.
O'Neill always rooted for the underdog. As you can see here in this poem, titled "Hoi Polloi" included in a letter to the famed Ozark folklorist and her good friend, Vance Randolph.
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