Knights of Labor Reaches Peak Membership of 700,000 Before Rapid Collapse

The Knights of Labor reaches its peak membership of over 700,000 workers (some sources report 750,000) under Grand Master Workman Terence V. Powderly, representing the largest and most inclusive labor organization in American history to that point. Founded in 1869 as a secret society and reorganized in 1879 when Powderly eliminated the secrecy and assumed leadership at age 30, the Knights pursues an ambitious vision of uniting all workers regardless of skill level, race, or gender—a stark contrast to the exclusionary craft union model that will soon dominate through the American Federation of Labor.

The Knights’ explosive growth follows a successful 1885 strike against Jay Gould’s railroad empire, which gives momentum to the organization and demonstrates the power of inclusive industrial unionism. Powderly’s leadership emphasizes education and arbitration over strikes, which he opposes as a “relic of barbarism,” though the organization’s size and diversity afford local assemblies significant autonomy to pursue more militant tactics. The Knights advocates for broad social reforms including the eight-hour workday, abolition of child labor, equal pay for equal work regardless of gender, and worker cooperatives as alternatives to wage labor.

However, disaster strikes immediately after the peak: the Haymarket Square bombing on May 4, 1886, triggers catastrophic membership collapse even though only two of eight defendants are Knights members. False rumors linking the Knights to anarchism and terrorism cause membership to plunge overnight, falling from over 700,000 in 1886 to at most 100,000 by 1890. Additional factors accelerating decline include Powderly’s controversial opposition to strikes during critical labor conflicts, competition from the newly-formed American Federation of Labor’s craft union model, and the Panic of 1893’s economic devastation. By 1893, when Powderly loses re-election as Grand Master Workman, membership has fallen to roughly 75,000 and continues declining until the national headquarters closes in 1917, with remnants surviving until the last 50-member local drops affiliation in 1949. The Knights of Labor’s rise and fall demonstrates both the potential power of inclusive industrial unionism and the vulnerability of labor organizing to red-baiting, media manipulation, and economic crises—lessons that inform subsequent labor history including the CIO’s successful industrial organizing (1930s-1940s) and McCarthyist purges of union radicals (1950s).