Like a Comet Streaking Across the Sky: The Investigative Journalism of Eva Valesh

MinneCulture · Feb 16, 2023 · 19m

Eva Valesh was only 22 when she first went undercover to report on women workers in the 1880s, under the pseudonym Eva Gay in the St. Paul Globe. Each week, she would either sneak into a workplace to speak to the workers, or she would simply fabricate her references and apply to a job herself. She visited clothing factories, laundries, dress-shops, dry goods stores, and food factories. Often, she encountered women being exploited or working in dangerous conditions. Eva fought for the workers and helped them fight for themselves. In this episode, reporter Ben Heath explores Valesh’s work, and…