Paperback Edition
ISBN: 9781558612570
Publication Date: 12-01-2000

Foreword by Arlene Kaplan Daniels

A pioneer in union organizing, worker education, and equal rights for working women, Alice Hanson Cook's work took her across the US and around the world. A Lifetime of Labor, available in paperback for the first time, in addition to being "the autobiography of an enduring and persistent activist," as Library Journal said, is a vital piece of social history spanning almost a century.

"Drawn from [Cook’s] own diaries and notes, this book is both graceful autobiography and perceptive social history that will be of lasting value." —Library Journal

"This is a deeply satisfying memoir by a very great lady." —Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

"Richly rewarding reading, Alice Cook's autobiography seems destined to become one of the most vital histories of progressive women in the twentieth century. . . . She created paths for women at the same time that she promoted industrial democracy. An extremely moving chronicle that connects our own time with social justice struggles nationally and internationally throughout the century." —Kathryn Kish Sklar, distinguished professor of History, State University of New York at Binghamton

"A Lifetime of Labor expands our understanding of the experience of living in the twentieth century as a participant—and leader—in its many progressive movements. . . . Cook made choices, changed directions, shaped lives—and defied almost all of the pre-1960s stereotypes about women's options." —Ronnie Steinberg, Director of Women's Studies, Vanderbilt University

"This book chronicles the remarkable journey of nine decades by a remarkable woman. From her earliest involvement in worker education to her path-breaking research and advocacy for the special challenges faced by working mothers in the major industrialized countries, Cook has set a high standard of excellence and passion for academics and practitioners." —Robert B. McKersie, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management, MIT

"This fascinating autobiography, detailing Alice Cook's lifelong involvement in progressive reform, shows us what one woman can accomplish. We have all benefited from Cook's unsurpassed commitment to improving the welfare of working women." —Mary Beth Norton, Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History, Cornell University