Object Details
Description
This sponge was sold for inflated prices in the El Monte sweatshop company store. On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 workers who were being forced to sew garments in virtual captivity. Smuggled from Thailand into the United States, the laborers’ plight brought a national spotlight to domestic sweatshop production and resulted in increased enforcement by federal and state labor agencies. The publicity of the El Monte raid also put added pressure on the apparel industry to reform its labor and business practices domestically and internationally.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
U.S. Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service
date made
1989
ID Number
1997.0268.16
accession number
1997.0268
catalog number
1997.0268.16
Object Name
Sponge
Physical Description
plastic (overall; wrapper material)
synthetic fibers (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 3 1/8 in x 5 1/2 in x 3/4 in; 7.9375 cm x 13.97 cm x 1.905 cm
place made
United States
Associated Place
United States: California, Los Angeles
United States: California, Los Angeles
See more items in
Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_880952