Organized in Philadelphia in 1869 as a general labor organization to protect and promote American laborers, the Knights of Labor began a strike against the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company in December 1887 after members were fired for refusing to switch cars to a non-union grain elevator in Philadelphia. The handbill, "An appeal to the wage-workers and businessmen of New York," appeals for donations to aid the striking Coal and Iron Company miners and appeals to the public to attend a sympathy and fundraising meeting on February 12, 1888.

Chartered in 1871, Reading Company was the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled by the predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company between 1833 and 1896. The collection consists of the corporate records of the Reading Company (1871-1976), the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company (1833-1896), the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company (1896-1923), and 159 predecessors and subsidiaries.