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More Context on Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl The story of early twentieth-century immigration to the U.S. has been told many times. But until recently important aspects of this history were overlooked or misunderstood. Men's experiences predominated over women's, and immigration was often recalled in a nostalgic glow that emphasized a welcoming atmosphere, respectability, and family solidarity. As recent historical scholarship shows, the immigrant experience was also characterized by crime, community division, family conflict, and anti-immigrant sentiments. Most important, the full story demonstrates how “ordinary” people shaped the development of significant American movements and institutions. Ida Zinsher and Angelica Covello, the fictional protagonists of Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl, represent the many young immigrant women who confronted abuse and exploitation in the workplace and, in 1909, organized a famous strike known as “The Uprising of the 20,000.” This strike challenged the public's perception of “the working girl” and also helped the young women strikers change their view of themselves. The workplace was not the only battleground for young immigrant women like Ida and Angelica. They were also caught in a generational conflict, torn between the traditional gender roles of their families and the independent image of an American “new woman.” They struggled to navigate between allegiances to “old world” values and the attractions of a burgeoning urban commercial culture of fashion and popular entertainment Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl explores how young immigrant women worked and played in the turn-of-the-century city.
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