American Made: Stories of Work from the WPA

June 16, 2026
edited by Anne Trubek with an introduction by Kim Kelly 

During the Great Depression, out-of-work writers were hired by the federal government to interview American working-class workers about their jobs. What was it like working in a meatpacking plant in Chicago? To make a living as a Portuguese fisherman in Massachusetts? A farmer in Nebraska? A Polish ironworker building the New York City subway? 

The result of this project was over 2,000 first person written accounts of working life, from as many workers, many of whom were first generation immigrants. Those interviews were laboriously catalogued and digitized by the Library of Congress, and a representative slice are presented to you here.

American Made is the engaging, sometimes brutal, always personable stories of workers, told in union halls, at crowded kitchen tables, and during breaks: reading them is both like watching a period drama and peeking into a diary. The book lays bare the immigrant journeys and working lives of those responsible for the nation's 20th century manufacturing and economic prowess. Through this book you will learn what has changed in America since then--and what has not. With an introduction by Kim Kelly, author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor. 

Anne Trubek is the founder and publisher of Belt Publishing.  She lives in Pittsburgh. 

Kim Kelly is the author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor, and the young readers edition, Fight to Win! Heroes of American Labor, She is a labor reporter who has written for The Nation, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baffler, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Esquire, In These Times, Teen Vogue, and many others.   She was born in the heart of the South Jersey Pine Barrens and currently lives in Philadelphia. 

paperback|  5x7 | $18.00 |  240 pages