Which earlier writers influenced Tillie Olsen’s novel about poor workers during the Great Depression?

When Tillie Olsen began writing her novel about the struggles of poor workers during the Great Depression in 1932, she drew inspiration from two primary sources:

• Contemporary proletarian novels: These works, which attacked capitalist exploitation, were a significant influence on her writing during that period.1
• Past women authors: Olsen was also inspired by earlier female writers who had focused their work on the sufferings of women and the poor.1

Olsen’s novel, which was eventually published in 1974 as Yonnondio: From the Thirties, remained unfinished and unrevised throughout her life. Her broader interest in long-neglected women authors later became a hallmark of her career, leading her to advocate for the recovery of lost literary voices and contributing to the development of women’s studies in the United States.23