Bearman and Gerteis This dissertation examines the intersection of class and race in the U.S. South by focusing on the Knights and Labor between 1880 and 1890. It seeks to answer two questions: What economic and social conditions facilitated the success of the Knights? How did white and black Southern workers understand and construct their own interests? The study combines quantitative analysis of the distributions of Knights' organizations in Southern counties, qualitative examination of newspaper records and manuscript collections, and case studies of the Knights organizations in Richmond and Atlanta. ***
