Scotch Brite kitchen scrub sponge, United States, 1989

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.

Date Made: 1989

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United StatesAssociated Place: United States: California, Los AngelesUnited States: California, Los Angeles

See more items in: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: U.S. Department of Justice. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1997.0268.16Accession Number: 1997.0268Catalog 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

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-abff-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_880952

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