Stage Set for Action.

With a few exceptions, artists remained outside the considerable union activity among American workers in the late nineteenth century. Yet during the first two decades of the twentieth century — as owners, producers, and managers in several creative fields formed business trusts to increase their bargaining power with artists — artists began to organize, seeking control over their work and careers. The political atmosphere of the day was also conducive to union activity, owing in part to the strength of Progressive reform movements and the bargaining power American unions gained during the war years.

Early Organization.

Playwrights were among the first artists to organize during the 1910s, forming the Dramatists Guild in 1912 to help individual playwrights bargain with producers. Actors were next, forming the Actors Equity Association on 26 May 1913 in response to what they felt was inequitable treatment from theatrical...