Eva Valesh was only 22 when she first went undercover to report on women workers in the 1880s for the St. Paul Globe. She wrote under the pseudonym Eva Gay. 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 of the MinneCulture podcast, reporter Ben Heath explores Valesh’s work, and the role of investigative journalism on the labor movement of the late 19th century. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts.