Publicity was another vital need — photos and eyewitness accounts of workers on the picket lines being harassed by gorillas and police. The picket lines themselves would have to be organized.
Which historical detail best helps clarify a reader’s understanding of the sentence?
To clarify a reader's understanding of the sentence, the historical detail that would be helpful is the context of labor strikes and worker harassment.
During the time period when this sentence refers to, there were many labor strikes and workers' rights movements where individuals protested against poor working conditions, low wages, and unfair treatment by employers. These strikes often involved workers forming picket lines outside of their workplaces, where they would gather to protest and demonstrate.
In some cases, these picket lines were met with hostility and intimidation from various groups, including police and hired strikebreakers known as "gorillas" (a term used to describe tough, intimidating individuals). These actions aimed to discourage workers from striking and to break up the picket lines.
Understanding this historical context helps to clarify the importance of obtaining publicity through photos and eyewitness accounts. By capturing evidence of the harassment faced by workers on the picket lines, it would help raise awareness of the unfair treatment and garner support for the labor movement.