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Since the early 20th century, the American workforce has been transformed by immigration, the automation and globalization of manufacturing and the expansion of the service economy.

The contemporary debate over the economic and political interests of the working class often reflects outdated images of unionized industrial workers who no longer reflect the tremendous diversity of working people in the United States today.

"In the 1930s and the 40s was a period in which the federal government became very actively involved in shaping people's experiences, their rights at work," said William P. Jones, a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. "But it did so in ways that divided American workers."

Legislation protecting laborers during this time singled out occupations held primarily by white men, while fields dominated by people of color and women were largely ignored, he said. 

Despite moves toward equality in the years since, there are still hardened lines separating these groups in the service sector, making it extremely difficult for minorities and women to break into higher paying fields.

"I think central to this is rethinking our image of what the working class is," Jones said.

Jones spoke in St. Paul at the Minnesota Historical Society's "History Forum" on March 18, 2017.

To listen to the speech, click the audio player above.

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Historian William Jones explores how the American workforce has been transformed over the past hundred years, and what "the working class" really is.

How policies helped shape the image of America's working class

A row of houses built for miners in Silver Bay.

The real history of America's 'working class'

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