ABSTRACT
The Necessity of Organization describes Mary Kenney O'Sullivan's struggle to improve labor conditions through trade unionism. Appointed the first woman organizer for the American Federation of Labor in 1892, she went on to be a co-founder of the Women's Trade Union League, formed in 1903 as a cross-class alliance of women workers and their middle- and upper-class allies. The possibilities and limits of trade unionism for women, given the class and gender constraints of the period, are the focus of this book.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter Chapter 2|44 pages
“A Noble Young Woman on Fire for Her Cause”
Mary Kenney O’Sullivan and the Boston Labor Community
chapter Chapter 3|36 pages
For Those “Willing to Assist”
The Formation of the National Women’s Trade Union League
chapter Chapter 4|40 pages
“The Fight for Subsistence”
The Early Years of the Boston Women’s Trade Union League
