The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor of America was formed in 1869, and it reached its peak in the late 1880s. Membership was extended to all workers of any profession, as individuals or as standing members of any other group, and it included "skilled and unskilled laborers, clerks, salespeople, and small shopkeepers" in the industries of "tobacco, textiles, mining, iron, and the construction trades, and among the dock workers of the seaports." Workers in rural areas were as readily accepted as those in urban and industrial areas. The basic philosophy behind the Knights of Labor was "to uphold the dignity of labor and to affirm the nobility of all who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow." Race was not an initial barrier, but rifts did arise among certain local assemblies which soon affected the national organization and this led to separate assemblies for the races. The Knights of Labor launched a coordinated membership drive across the southern states in 1878. Current members who moved to the South usually became the local leaders. In 1888, there were 2,925 members in Mississippi, and the total Southern membership that year was 45,700. The total national membership that year was about 730,000. The strongest local assemblies were in Jackson, Natchez, and Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The Knights of Labor made possible the election of local political candidates. They also lobbied state legislatures, taking stands on such issues as "convict labor, child labor, workers' safety, scrip wages, and more reasonable hours of labor." The victories won in early strikes were undercut by such defeats as the failed 1886 strike against railroad baron Jay Gould. Other strikes were initiated by local members before securing the support of the national leaders, and they often ended in failure. Morale among the members declined rapidly in the early 1890s, and so did the membership rolls. However, the ideals of political reform espoused by the Knights of Labor contributed to later successes by the Progressives, and their concept of unionization assisted later efforts by such organizations as the American Federation of Labor.

The identities of the signers of the Knights of Labor traveling card cannot be confirmed. However, the 1870 Mississippi census for Warren County does list an A. A. Edwards as an ice merchant from New York; the 1880 Warren County census lists an A. A. Edwards and his brother, John R. Edwards, as retail dealers; and the 1880 Warren County census also lists an Andrew D. Ellison as a carpenter from Ohio. There is no record for Louis Dubroc listed in the Mississippi census indexes.

The Knights of Labor traveling card was issued to A. A. Edwards of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on June 15, 1887. The card is signed by A. D. Ellison and Louis Dubroc. The initials "M.W." beside Ellison's signature stand for "master workman."

1. Traveling Card. 1887. 0.10 cubic ft.