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Irish-American Female Leadership

When Irish nationalism gained prominence in the U.S in the early 1880s, it enabled Irish-American women their first experiences in the public sphere. They advocated for Irish independence when Irish men and women were oppressed back home. Within the nationalism movement in Ireland, radical aspects including a worker-centered agenda was called for in America –one that would "restore to producers the fruits of their labor". This movement attracted Irish American workers and drew women into reform movements beyond the scope of nationalism. Those who sought to reform did so to advocate for the exploited and vulnerable in America. Due to the lack of support from men in the labor movement, women turned to each other and formed alliances with those of middle-class status to seek remedies to aid “the working girl”. This ultimately brought them beyond their own ethnic and class circles, into broader American reform tradition.

The prevalence of Irish women organizers during the late 19th and early 20th century can be attributed to the numerous Irish women in the female labor force during that period. Women accounted for a large proportion of the overall Irish immigration population, and the highest among other immigrant groups. Due to the high occurrence of poverty among immigrants, it was essential for women to find work in addition to men. The occurrence of late marriage, coupled with a less family-centered ethnic tradition enabled Irish American women to gain employment. Notably, it was not considered off-limits for single Irish women to work. Without the need to tend to marriage and household duties, women were allowed to work and thus contributed to the rise of Irish American female activists. It was a source of support for O’Reilly’s decision to not marry, and a tradition in which that decision would not be considered deviant. Although a career as a labor activist was not a field open to women, the prominence of Irish American men in organizing influenced women to pursue it. It is evident that this cultural pattern enabled women to participate and remain in the labor force.

Unlike O’Reilly, many reformers of the era were well-educated, middle-class protestant reformers. O’Reilly left school at an early age to follow her mother’s trade – sewing. She faced poverty, brutal working conditions and unemployment that came with the Gilded Age. Like most Irish-American women activists, knew the injustices of industrial capitalism. The first Irish-American women to embrace social reform did so to advocate for the working-class in industrial America. Hence, ethnicity and class are main factors contributing to their entry into public life.

O’Reilly’s Cause

Leonora O’Reilly’s experience growing up working-class allowed her to identify with the labor movement, which she saw as crucial for defending people, particularly women of her class. As a third-generation working woman, O’Reilly justified her right to speak for women in the labor force because of the cumulative experiences of a working mother and grandmother. In addition to focusing on women’s place in society, O’Reilly advocated for changes that would allow women from unskilled to more skilled positions. She argued industrial education was crucial for the liberation of working women, and trade schools for girls in the absence of apprenticeships available to boys. She was convinced wage equality would be possible when women became skilled workers. Therefore, O’Reilly saw women’s suffrage as a route to equal political rights and ultimately wage equality. It is notable that during the Irish Rebellion, O’Reilly devoted her attention to support of Irish nationalism to international labor issues.

The Irish Rebellion

Leonora O’Reilly became involved in support of the The Irish Rebellion, an uprising against British rule of Ireland founded in opposition to imperialistic policies. During the years between 1916 and 1923, Irish nationalists sought help from Irish labor movement leaders in the US, as a response to the US support of the British in World War I. Labor leaders in Ireland encouraged Irish immigrants in the US to boycott British goods, pass trade-union resolutions in favor of the Irish Revolution and for US diplomatic recognition of the Irish Republic. Irish nationalists reasoned that Irish American labor leaders should support the movement as they were fighting for justice and the equality of all workers. Moreover, it was argued that British imperialism damaged American workers, notably related to the elite Anglo-Protestant groups in the US siding with the British and discriminating against Irish American workers. O’Reilly responded positively to Irish nationalists later in her career and became a key figure in international networks that supported the Irish Rebellion. O’Reilly was involved in an array of organizations associated with the Irish Rebellion, including Cumann na mBan (Irish Women’s Council), the Friends of Irish Freedom, the Irish Progressive League, the Labor Bureau of the American Commission of Irish Independence, the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of American War Aims, and the Irish Women’s Purchasing League.

O’Reilly was notable for using her contacts to drive support for boycotts. The first was a boycott by dockworkers who refused to unload British cargoes across major American cities including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Galveston. This led to O’Reilly organizing a group from the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of American War Aims to incite the first group of dockworkers in New York to walk off their jobs and which led to similar actions by groups in other cities. The movement attracted international attention, particularly from Irish republican women leaders who came to the US to attract backing for the Irish Rebellion.

Later, O’Reilly was involved in a consumer boycott of British goods. This campaign was led by Chicago Federation of Labor President John Fitzpatrick and labor lawyer Frank Walsh of the Labor Bureau of the American Commission on Irish Independence. O’Reilly published a list in conjunction with the Women’s Purchasing League of goods to be boycotted, and using a rational that women did most of the shopping. Regardless of its financial impact, the boycotting campaign highlighted a division within the American Federation of Labor (AFL) over the question of imperialism. AFL leaders advocated that the labor movement should support government foreign policies. This support might then be conceded during times of national crisis to achieve concessions for American workers. By contrast, O’Reilly sided with other labor leaders, such as John Fitzpatrick, in a fundamental opposition to imperialism. Even when at odds with government policy, she believed such opposition was an appropriate purpose of the labor movement and a primary focus of labor solidarity.

Career and Political Activism

In 1886, O'Reilly joined Knights of Labor

in 1881, at the age of eleven, Leonora was forced to give up school to work in a New York collar factory, earning $1 per dozen finished collars. When the pay dropped to 50 cents three years later, O’Reilly joined the knights of labor and participated in her first strike.

O'Reilly was active in the Working Woman’s Society between 1888-1890

The same year she joined the Knights of Labor, O’Reilly assembled a group of fellow collar makers to discuss their injustices and explore possible solutions. Together with other women activists, Leonora solidified the group and held discussions on how to build unionism among the exploited workingwomen in New York City. The group was soon comprised of shop women and factory operatives, including Alice L. Woodbridge and Ida Van Etten. Together they helped organize the Working Women’s Society. Its objectives were “to found trades’ organizations in trades where they at present do not exist, and to encourage and assist labor organizations to the end of increasing wages and shortening hours”.

From 1909 to 1914, O'Reilly was Vice President of NY Women’s Trade Union League

Once women were brought to the vote, they would gain independence and confidence men often thought they lacked. Suffrage was essential to better working conditions, such as abolishing sweatshops, raising wages, reducing work hours and helping them unionize. “Behind suffrage” Leonora wrote, “is the demand for equal pay for equal work” and that women workers would cease to be a threat to union men’s wage scales once they gained the vote.

As a WTUL organizer, and the vice president of New York city’s WTUL she helped organize the 1909 New York city strike nicknamed the uprising of the 20,000, by raising money to support strikers, urging boycotts of firms being struck, and organizing mass protests. She also galvanized protests following the Triangle factory fire of 1911, by using the tragedy to build support for factory safety reforms.

Because the WTUL consisted of working-class individuals who lacked education and money, they were unable to organize effectively without the aid of powerful allies. Thus, the league was dominated by affluent middle-class women who were educated, had financial ability and political clout. These progressive reformers attempted to steer workers away from radical influences, particularly the Socialist Party which O’Reilly and Rose Schneiderman, a fellow WTUL leader and organizer, were members of. This resulted in issues of credibility between classes within the league and Socialists members distrusted the work of these affluent reformers. As such, O’Reilly and Schneiderman often felt torn by competing loyalties. The league seemed to them “to act out patronizing benevolence that had little to do with real coalition building”,and the two leading organizes were angered by what they saw as attempts of allies to manipulate them. Eventually, O’Reilly resigned in Jan 1906, claiming an “overdose” of allies.

O'Reilly founded the Wage Earner’s League in 1911

O’Reilly and Schneiderman founded league on march 22, 1911. O’Reilly was a senior member and a street corner speaker who because of her excellency, was elected president. The league’s goal was threefold “to urge working women to understand the necessity for the vote, to agitate for the vote, and to study how to use the vote when it has been acquired”.