DOCSLIB.ORG

African-A1merican Women Workers and the Women's Trade Union League

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
African-A1merican Women Workers and the Women's Trade Union League "YOUR SISTEXS OF DARKER HUE": AFRICAN-A1MERICAN WOMEN WORKERS AND THE WOMEN'S TRADE UNION LEAGUE Jennifer Lynn Carson Department of History Subrnitted in partial fidfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Faculty of Graduate Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario March, 1998 @ Jennifer Lynn Carson 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*U ofcanada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services senices bibliographiques 395 wellingtori Street 395. nie Wellington ûüawaON KIAONQ ôtrawa ON KIA ON4 Canada CaMda The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or sell reproduire, prêter, disbn'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fïlxn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor subsîantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMrise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. This thesis explores the relationship between the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) and African-American women workers. It examines both the official poiky of the National WTUL regarding the unionization of black women workers, as weli as some of its organuational campaigns involving Affican- American workers. This anaiysis will outline the reasons why the League's rhetorical commitment to racial equality did not lead to a concerted attack on the racist practices found within the American labor movement The second haif of this work provides a comparative analysis of the racial practices of the National WTUL, and the New York WTUL, the most active local branch of the National League. Focusing on the New York League's campaign to organue New York City's laundry workers, the majority of whom were African- American women, this thesis will explain why the NY League was able to Iive up to the National League's espoused principies of racial equaiity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 would iike to express my sincere gratitude for the time, guidance and encouragement provided by my thesis advisor Margaret Kellow. Her insighthil comments and unfiagging support have made this work possible. 1 would also iike to express my deep appreciation to Jack Blocker, whose insightful comments on Afncan-American workers has greatly enhanced this project. TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of Examination Abstract Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Acronyms 1. Introduction 2. "When you can find your way clear to join hands with your sisten of darker hue": The National Women's Trade Union League and African- American Women Workers 3 . "They performed a very real fùnction": The New York Women's Trade Union League and Afiican-Amencan Wornen Workers 4. "It was like the salvation": The Organization of New York City's Laundry Workers and the New York Women's Trade Union League Conclusion Bibliography Vita LIST OF ACRONYMS ACWA Amdgamated Clothing Workers of Amenca AFL American Federation of Labor BWOHE' Black Woman Oral History Project CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations FDR Frankllli Delano Roosevelt rLGW international Ladies' Garment Workers Union ElLw international Laundry Workers' Union LOR Leonora O'Reilly MA Mary Anderson MD Mary Dreier MDR Margaret Dreier Robins NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAWSA National Amencan Woman Suffrage Association NRA National Recovery Act NUL National Urban League NwP National Woman's Party NWTUL National Women's Trade Union League NYWTUL New York Women's Trade Union League NYDL New York Department of Labor NYUL New York Urban League RS Rose Schneiderman TC'ITUW Twentieth Century Trade Union Woman USDL United States Department of Labor UTWA United Textile Workers of America WCTC Woman's Christian Temperance Union WTUL Women's Trade Union League YMCA Young Men's Christian Association YWCA Young Women's Christian Association Chapter One Introduction In 1903, at an Arnerican Federation of Labor Convention, Mary k~eyO'Sdlivan announced the formation of a League dedicated to the "organization of women wage earners into Trade Unions. "' Convhced that collective labor bargainhg would provide the solution to women's exploitation in the industrial labor force, a smalI group of upper-class "ailies" and social reformers set out to improve the working conditions of their industrial sisters through the formation of the National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL).2 The League was to be modeled after the British Women's Trade Union League, which had been in existence since 1874.' The National League established its 'In its 1905-1906 program, League leaders asserted that "The object of the Women's Trade Union League shall be to assist in the organization of women wage emers into Trade Unions and thereby to help them secure conditions necessary for healthfUI and efficient work and to obtain a just retum for such work. " OflciaZ Report of the WTUL of Arne- 1905-1906, 1, Reel 1, National Women's Trade Union League Papers of Arnerica (Hereafkr NWTUL Papers), Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mas. (Microfilm Edition of the Papers of the WïüL and its Principal Leaders). Mary Kenney O'Sullivan was a bindny worker whose help in the organization of Ladies Federal Labor Union No. 2703 of the American Federation of Labor (An)made her the An's first woman organizer. Barbara Mayer Wertheimer, We Were ïhere: The Story of Working Women m Amena (New York: Pantheon Books, 1977)- 267. 2 In addition to OfSullivan, founders included seîtlement worker and socialist WiIliam English Walling, a Boston philanthropist Mary Kehew, senlement workers Jane Addams, Lillian Wald and Mary McDoweU, shirtwaist rnaker and Knights of Labor activist Leonora OReilly, a shoernaker by the name of Mary Donovan, and garment workers Mary Freitas and EUen Lindstrom Wertheimer7 We Were There: The Story of Wovkng Women in Arne- 265-28 1; Philip Foner, Women and the Americm? Labor Movement: From Colonial Times to the Eve of Worki W'ar I,vol. 1, (New York: The Free Ress, 1979), 25 1,295. 3Foner, Women anù the American Ldor Movement, vol. 1,295-296. headquarters in Chicago, and soon afterwards local Leagues opened in New York Chicago and Boston. During the next fifteen years League supporters opened other local Leagues in several cities throughout the Nonhem United States, and in 1929 League activities were extended into the south.' As their primary objective League founders planned to create an egahtarian cross-class alliance of women dedicated to improving the working conditions of femaie wage eamers through trade unionism. Leaders sought to achieve this goal by strengthening existing unions and creating new unions of women wage eamers. They dso hoped to educate the American public and the mainstrearn male labor movement about the depiorable conditions under which women labored, as well as their pressing need to organize into trade unions. From the beginning, the League sought to establish close ties with the Amencan Federation of Labor (An).Its constitutional platform included a provision that wherever possible, unions that they organized would afliliate with the appropriate An local.' Despite hopes of eniisting the support, hancial and othenvise, of organized labor, League leaders were continually mistrated by An President Samuel Gompers' uninterested and generally patronizing attitude toward the organization of women workers. Although the crafl union emphasis of the An excluded rnost women owing to their concentration in low skilled trades, Gompers did Linle to assist the League in carnpaigns to help these women achieve organization. WMe publicly Gompers professed his support of the 1Nancy Schrom Dye, As EQuaLs andm Sisters: Feminim, the hbor Mowment, d the Womenk Traie Union Leagrie of New York (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, l98O), 5. 'philip Foner, Women mui the Arne- Labor Movement, vol. 1,3 17-322; Wfiarn Chafe, fie Amencm Wom:Her Chcnigmg Srocid, Ecoromic unà Political Roles, NZO- 19 70 (London: Mord University Press, 1972), 76-79. 3 League, in reality he gave the League virtuaily no assistance. By 19 13, hstrated by the An's lack of support, and having achieved only moderate organizational success, the League increasingly tunied its attention toward the passage of su5age and protective labor legislation as the best avenue for improving working conditions for women wage earners. Nevertheless, although the League fded to achieve its primary goal of organizing women into the predominantly male American labor movement, the contributions the WTLZ made to the Progressive Movement, to the Labor Movement, and in the Lives of working wornen, should not be underestirnated. Under the able leadership of Margaret Dreier Robins, a Chicago philanthropist who held the position of President of the NWTUL from 1907 to 1922, the League vigorousiy pursued the organization and education of wornen workers, as weU as the enactment of sufhge and protective labor legislation. The League provided organizers, funds and favorable publicity for numerous strikes involving women workers, including corset workers in Illinois, collar starchers in Troy, textile workers in Boston, shirtwaist makers in New York and Philadelphia, and many others. In 191 1, enabled by the financial sponsorship of Margaret Robins, the League published its first copy of Lije mtd Labor. which would serve as its officia1 journal fiom 191 1 to 192 1.6 Three years later the National League opened a training school for women workers providing both academic and practical education.' Many historians argue that the League's most signincant %me Kirby, "Class, Gender and the Peds of PManthropy: The Story of Life dhbw and Labor Reform in the Women's Trade Union League," Journal of Women's History 42 (1992): 36-5 1.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rose Schneiderman and the Labor Movement American Jewish History Through Objects
    Why Do People Unite? Discovering Rose Schneiderman and the Labor Movement American Jewish History Through Objects 01 MISHNAH PIRKEI AVOT STREET MEETINGS 09 If there is no flour, there is no Torah; What do the people do when the courts are reluctant to intervene and the other branches of government if there is no Torah, there is no flour. have failed them for so long? A political or social movement can oftentimes accomplish more than Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 3:21 any lawsuit, and it can certainly do so more quickly. Joshua Weishart, “The Ripple Effect of the West Virginia Teachers’ Victory,” 2018 02 BREAD AND ROSES ADMISSION FREE 08 What the woman who of “bread” and of “roses”? of “bread” is the significance What labors wants is the right The teachers’ unions also to live, not simply exist…. assume that a union con- tract is a benefit for every- The worker must have one, and that certainly is bread, but she must not the case. Unions collect have roses, too. dues from these folks even Rose Schneiderman, 1912 though the contract may be a detriment to their person- 03 INDUSTRIAL POINT al interests. OF VIEW Mike Antonucci, “Five Common Teachers Union Arguments That Rely The machines are so wildly noisy on Half-Truths,” 2017 in the shop / That I often forget who I am. / I get lost in the fright- ful tumult — / My self is de- AUDITORIUM 07 stroyed, I become a machine. / I work and work and work end- If you worry about lessly — / I create and create and create / Why? For whom? I crime, you can either don’t know and I don’t ask.
    [Show full text]
  • 2010 Women's Committee Report
    Report of the CWANational Women's Committee to the 72nd Annual Convention Communications Workers of America July 26-28, 2010 Washington, D.C. Introduction The National Women's Committee is deviating from our usual reporting format this year to celebrate and acknowledge two historic anniversaries in the women's suffrage movement. First, this year marks the 90th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women full voting rights. The committee members are wearing gold, white and purple sashes like the ones worn by the suffragettes in parades and demonstrations. The color gold signifies coming out of darkness into light, white stands for purity and purple is a royal color which represents victory. The committee members will now introduce you to six courageous women who fought to obtain equal rights and one which continues that fight today. 1 Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm I November 30, 1924 - January 1, 2005 Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was born Novem- several campus and community groups where she ber 30, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York, to Barbadi- developed a keen interest in politics. an parents. Chisholm was raised in an atmosphere that was both political and religious. Chisholm After graduating cum laude from Brooklyn received much of her primary education in her College in 1946, Chisholm began to work as a parents' homeland, Barbados, under the strict nursery school teacher and later as a director of eye of her maternal grandmother. Chisholm, who schools for early childhood education. In 1949 returned to New York when she was ten years she married Conrad Chisholm, a Jamaican who old, credits her educational successes to the well- worked as a private investigator.
    [Show full text]
  • Codes Win Court Su {:>Port
    -ilur friglr VoL II, No. 29 Issu.ed Weekly by the Na tiona! Recovery Administration, Washington January 2, 1935 NRA. · . Suspendsp . W age R estttuttons. Codes Win Court Su_{:>port Mtntm urn rtces of Lumber Average $75,000 in Recent Tests Government Susta.ined tn 77 of 81 Rulings Board Finds Major Divisions of ·Weekly Concerning ~RA and Industrial Codes Industry Unwilling to Cooperate Restitution of back wages to employees, Under Fixed Price Policy arrf\.Ilged through the 54 field offices of the National Recovery Administration, have . Federal courts have sustained the arO'uments of Government attorneys in The National Industrial Recovery Board averaged over $75,000 a week through the 71 of t~e 81 court ru~ings concerning the National Recovery Administration and bas issued an order suspending former Ad­ late fall, according to statistics released by mdustnal Codes dun~ the 8 weeks ended December 25, according to an analysis ministrative orders estal>lishing minimum the Compliance Division. made public by the .N liA Litigation Division. prices in the lumber and timber products in­ The total amount of wage restitution During the period the handling of court cases was greatly expedited and dustries. The order is now effective. through the field ollices alone has been $1,- 468,047.03 since June 16, 1934. During the facilitated by the creation of the new position of special• assistant attorney gen­ This action was taken .in view of the fact eral. Much closer liaison between the NRA. and the Department of Justice has that the board found, after public hearing, 2-weck period ended December 8, such restitu­ it was not practicable either to enforce prices tions amounted to $152,042.01.
    [Show full text]
  • “A Superior Kind of Working Woman”: the Contested Meaning of Vocational Education for Girls in Progressive Era Chicago
    Downloaded from https://doi.org/10.1017/S153778142100013X The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2021), 20, 392–410 doi:10.1017/S153778142100013X ARTICLE https://www.cambridge.org/core “A Superior Kind of Working Woman”: The Contested Meaning of Vocational Education for Girls in Progressive Era Chicago Ruby Oram* . IP address: Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] 170.106.35.93 Abstract Progressive Era school officials transformed public education in American cities by teaching , on male students trades like foundry, carpentry, and mechanics in classrooms outfitted like 02 Oct 2021 at 01:26:00 factories. Historians have demonstrated how this “vocational education movement” was championed by male administrators and business leaders anxious to train the next gener- ation of expert tradesmen. But women also hoped vocational education could prepare female students for industrial careers. In the early twentieth century, members of the National Women’s Trade Union League demanded that public schools open trade programs to female students and teach future working women the history of capitalism and the , subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at philosophy of collective bargaining. Their ambitious goals were tempered by some middle- class reformers and club women who argued vocational programs should also prepare female students for homemaking and motherhood. This article uses Chicago as a case study to explore how Progressive Era women competed and collaborated to reform vocational education for girls, and how female students responded to new school programs designed to prepare them for work both in and outside the home.
    [Show full text]
  • She Was One of Us She Was One of Us
    SHE WAS ONE OF US SHE WAS ONE OF US Eleanor Roosevelt and the American Worker BRIGID O'FARRELL Property of MARTIN P. CATHERWOOD LIBRARY SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS Cornell University ILR Press an imprint of Cornell University Press Ithaca and London Copyright © 2010 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2010 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data O'Farrell, Brigid. She was one of us : Eleanor Roosevelt and the American worker / Brigid O'Farrell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8014-4880-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962. 2. Working class—United States—History—20th century. 3. Labor movement—United States—History—20th century. 4. Women in the labor movement—United States—History—20th century. I. Title. E807.1.R48O34 2010 973.917092-dc22 2010015487 Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress. cornell.edu. Cloth printing 1098765432 1 Throughout the crowded years of her lifetime, Eleanor Roosevelt was the tireless champion of working men and women Wher­ ever there were batdes to be fought..
    [Show full text]
  • Thanks to Frances Perkins Teacher's Guide
    TEACHER’S GUIDE Includes Common Core Standards Correlations Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers’ Rights Written by Deborah Hopkinson | Illustrated by Kristy Caldwell HC: 978-1-68263-136-2 Ages 6–10 Lexile • F&P • GRL P; Gr 3 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BOOK After Frances Perkins witnessed the Triangle Waist • Frances’s father believed in education. An Factory fire in 1911, she was forever changed. While illustration in the book shows him with Frances some activists pressed factory owners for change, learning the alphabet. Was it common for fathers to Frances decided to work to bring about new laws that help educate their children in 1880? would force employers to treat people better and make • Frances’s mother taught her it was important to help workplaces safer. When she became Secretary of Labor neighbors in need. Why is this important? What are in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration—the first some of the needs our neighbors have today? woman cabinet member—Frances had the opportunity to • Frances’s grandmother told her that whenever a door make real her bold vision of a country where no one was of opportunity opened Frances should go through it. left out. As a result of the Social Security program that What is a door of opportunity? Why should Frances she created, we have built a society where we help one go through all of them? What would she learn from another. these opportunities? Deborah Hopkinson’s energetic text and Kristy • How did Frances’s parents’ and grandmother’s Caldwell’s appealing illustrations introduce readers to a guidance cause her to trust in both her heart and her fascinating woman who has changed many American mind? Is it more important to trust your heart or lives.
    [Show full text]
  • I AM a WORKING GIRL!: Upheaval in the Garment Trades 1900-1915
    LESSON PLANS ECONOMIC RIGHTS I AM A WORKING GIRL!: Upheaval in the Garment Trades 1900-1915 OVERVIEW COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS Through viewing photographs, excerpts from documents, paintings, and speeches, students will learn about the strike by shirtwaist workers in Grade 4: 1909 and a devastating fire in 1911 that transformed New York City’s labor CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined movement. experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event STUDENT GOALS sequences. Through viewing historic photographs and paintings, students will Grade 6: draw inferences about the working conditions of garment workers in CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3 New York City at the turn of the century. Write narratives to develop real or imagined Students will learn about key events that led to legislative change in experiences or events using effective workplace safety regulation. technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. Through analyzing excerpts from newspapers and diary entries, students will consider the divergent reactions to these events. Grades 9-10: Students will analyze the rhetoric used by union leaders, like Rose CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D Use precise words and phrases, telling Schneiderman, and discuss the power of oration. details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. The Museum of the City of New York 1220 5th Avenue at 104th Street www.mcny.org 1 LESSON PLANS ECONOMIC RIGHTS I
    [Show full text]
  • Sanders, Geterly Women Inamerican History:,A Series. Pook Four, Woien
    DOCONIMM RIBOSE ED 186 Ilk 3 SO012596 AUTHOR Sanders, geTerly TITLE Women inAmerican History:,A Series. pook Four,Woien in the Progressive Era 1890-1920.. INSTITUTION American Federation of Teachers, *Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Office,of Education (DHEW), Wastington, D.C. Wolen's Educational Egutty Act Program. PUB DATE 79 NOTE 95p.: For related documents, see SO 012 593-595. AVAILABLE FROM Education Development Center, 55 Chapel Street, Newton, MA 02160 (S2.00 plus $1.30 shipping charge) EDRS gRICE MF01 Plus Postige. PC Not.Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Artists; Authors: *CiVil Rights: *Females; Feminksm; Industrialization: Learning Activities: Organizations (Groups): Secondary Education: Sex Discrioination; *Sex Role: *Social Action: Social Studies;Unions; *United States History: Voting Rights: *Womens Studies ABSTRACT 'The documente one in a series of four on.women in American history, discusses the rcle cf women in the Progressive Era (11390-1920)4 Designed to supplement high school U.S.*history. textbooks; the book is co/mprised of five chapter's. Chapter I. 'describes vtormers and radicals including Jane A3damsand Lillian Wald whs b4tan the settlement house movement:Florence Kelley, who fought for labor legislation:-and Emma Goldmanand Kate RAchards speaking against World War ft Of"Hare who,became pOlitical priscners for I. Chapter III focuses on women in factory workand the labor movement. Excerpts from- diaries reflectthe'work*ng contlitions in factor4es which led to women's ipvolvement in the,AFL andthe tormatton of the National.Wcmenls Trade Union League. Mother Jones, the-Industrial Workers of the World, and the "Bread and Roses"strike (1S12) of 25,000 textile workers in Massachusetts arealso described.
    [Show full text]
  • Excerpt from “Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers”
    Western New England Law Review Volume 42 42 Issue 3 Article 3 2020 EXCERPT FROM “MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT: REVOLUTIONARY REFORMERS” Barbara Berenson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation Barbara Berenson, EXCERPT FROM “MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT: REVOLUTIONARY REFORMERS”, 42 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 359 (2020), https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/ lawreview/vol42/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Review & Student Publications at Digital Commons @ Western New England University School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Western New England Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Western New England University School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WESTERN NEW ENGLAND LAW REVIEW Volume 42 2020 Issue 3 EXCERPT FROM “MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT: REVOLUTIONARY REFORMERS” BARBARA BERENSON* INTRODUCTION In Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers, I tell the story of the courageous and visionary activists who fought tenaciously for nearly a century to secure women the vote. The book balances the national and state stories. Massachusetts played a critical leadership role in the national campaign: among other things, it was the site of the first national woman’s rights convention, the headquarters of the American Woman Suffrage Association, and the home of the Woman’s Journal, the nation’s leading pro-suffrage newspaper. Until the final years of the movement, suffragists waged a state-based campaign: they sought to persuade states to amend their constitutions to enfranchise women and thereby ensure that critical number of representatives and senators in the United States Congress would be beholden to women voters.
    [Show full text]
  • Organizing the Unorganizable: Three Jewish Women and Their Union
    This article was downloaded by: [University of Minnesota Libraries, Twin Cities] On: 29 July 2011, At: 20:47 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Labor History Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/clah20 Organizing the Unorganizable: Three Jewish women and their union a Alice Kessler‐Harris a Director of the Women's Studies Program, Sarah Lawrence College Available online: 03 Jul 2008 To cite this article: Alice Kessler‐Harris (1976): Organizing the Unorganizable: Three Jewish women and their union, Labor History, 17:1, 5-23 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00236567608584366 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/ terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Downloaded by [University of Minnesota Libraries, Twin Cities] at 20:47 29 July 2011 ORGANIZING THE UNORGANIZABLE: THREE JEWISH WOMEN AND THEIR UNION * by ALICE KESSLER-HARRIS Women who were actively engaged in the labor struggles of the first part of this century faced a continual dilemma.
    [Show full text]
  • National Women's Trade Union League of America
    National Women’s Trade Union League of America Records A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2009 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms010120 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm75034363 Prepared by Mary M. Wolfskill Collection Summary Title: National Women’s Trade Union League of America Records Span Dates: 1903-1950 ID No.: MSS34363 Creator: National Women’s Trade Union League of America Extent: 7,400 items ; 28 containers plus 2 oversize ; 11 linear feet ; 25 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Correspondence, reports, speeches, notes, and printed matter, including minutes of meetings, proceedings of national conventions and international congresses of working women, biographical material on the league's officers, and correspondence between local and national leagues. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Addams, Jane, 1860-1935--Correspondence. Anderson, Mary, 1859-1940--Correspondence. Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston, 1866-1948--Correspondence. Christman, Elisabeth, 1881-1975--Correspondence. Dreier, Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth), 1875-1963--Correspondence. Duffy, Frank, 1861-1955--Correspondence. Gompers, Samuel, 1850-1924--Correspondence. Henry, Alice, 1857-1943--Correspondence. Kehew, Mary Morton Kimball, 1859-1918--Correspondence. Morrison, Frank, 1859-1949--Correspondence. Nestor, Agnes--Correspondence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Contested Meaning of Vocational Education for Girls in Progressive Era Chicago
    Downloaded from https://doi.org/10.1017/S153778142100013X The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2021), 20, 392–410 doi:10.1017/S153778142100013X ARTICLE https://www.cambridge.org/core “A Superior Kind of Working Woman”: The Contested Meaning of Vocational Education for Girls in Progressive Era Chicago Ruby Oram* . IP address: Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] 170.106.35.229 Abstract Progressive Era school officials transformed public education in American cities by teaching , on male students trades like foundry, carpentry, and mechanics in classrooms outfitted like 30 Sep 2021 at 17:44:30 factories. Historians have demonstrated how this “vocational education movement” was championed by male administrators and business leaders anxious to train the next gener- ation of expert tradesmen. But women also hoped vocational education could prepare female students for industrial careers. In the early twentieth century, members of the National Women’s Trade Union League demanded that public schools open trade programs to female students and teach future working women the history of capitalism and the , subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at philosophy of collective bargaining. Their ambitious goals were tempered by some middle- class reformers and club women who argued vocational programs should also prepare female students for homemaking and motherhood. This article uses Chicago as a case study to explore how Progressive Era women competed and collaborated to reform vocational education for girls, and how female students responded to new school programs designed to prepare them for work both in and outside the home.
    [Show full text]