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Sources For Leonora O'Reilley

1. Publication Title:Workers in America: A Historical Encyclopedia Date :2013 ISBN:9781598847185, 159884718X Language:English Copyright:Copyright 2013 by Robert E. Weir

2. Mattina, A. F. (1994), Mattina (1989). "Rights as well as duties": The rhetoric of Leonora O'Reilly. Communication Quarterly, 42(2), 196. Retrieved from https://une.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.une.idm.oclc.org/docview/216475505?accountid=12756

3. Bularzik, Mary J. "The Bonds of Belonging: Leonora O'Reilly and Social Reform." Labor History 24.1 (1983): 60-83. Web.

4. kaplan,. temma .. (1986). On the Socialist Origins of International Women's Day. Off Our Backs, 16(3), 1–2. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25794869

5.O'Reilly, Leonora (1870–1927)

Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia | 2002

BIO: Progressive Era political activist Leonora O'Reilly (1870-1927) was born in New York state, raised in the Lower East Side of New York City. She was born into a working-class family and had left school at the age of eleven, to then begin working under a sewing instructor [Mattina, 1994]. Leonora O’Reilley’s parents were Irish Immigrants escaping the Potato Famine; father, John was a printer and a grocer, passing away while Leonora was at the ripe age of one, forcing her mother, Winifred ‘Rooney’ O’Reilly to work more hours as a garment worker to support Leonora and her younger brother [Weir, 2004]. Leonora O’Reilly worked from 1903-1915 an Organizer and Recruiter for the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL). O’Reilly was well documented for her volunteerism and paid labor for her political activism, as she was paid for writing magazine articles, printing her opinions in newspapers. Speaking on the streets of New York, O’Reilly spoke in public for labor reform and women’s suffrage; her skills were able to represent the women in a Senate Committee on Suffrage, various public meeting halls, as well as being in correspondents [Mattina, 1994]. Leonora O’Reilly, as a woman speaker was thought to be out of place for woman at this time in New York’s history. Some historians claim that city folk would often question O'Reilly and the few paid women public speakers’ feminine essence, as if their profession exclusively requires male labor, making assertive actions that go against the social norms, sparking change, and making room for more females to rise up in O’Reilly’s wake [Campbell, 1989].

CAREER: Leonora O’Reilly early in her life began engaged with the labor reform and women’s suffrage movements. When O’Reilly was 16 years of age, she had joined the Knights of Labor group with her mother [Mattina]. After being formally introduced to labor rights efforts, in 1886 she formed the Working Women’s Society [Women in World History, 2002]. At this time, Louise Perkins, a women’s activist and philanthropist had taken interest into O’Reilly’s work, inviting her to membership to New York’s Social Reform Club, as this group would often speak on the contemporary issues surrounding the political economy [Weir, 2004]. O’Reilly organized the local women’s United Garment Workers of America faction in 1897, and she spoke publicly on the group’s behalf. In 1901, she had given an address to the National Society for Women Workers, advertising and increasing access/awareness for women seeking opportunities in the civil service [Mattina, 1994]. In 1903, O’Reilly along with other labor activists had co-founded the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL), this was the popular women’s group which led to Leonora O'Reilly’s political fame. In 1903, she served as the WTUL Vice President, and paid as a full-time organizer. O’Reilly had become a full-time, paid organizer for the Women’s Trade Union League, she would be active in speaking in meetings/public, recruiting, event organization, networking connections to support the cause, and a spokesperson for the press [Mattina, 1994; Weir 2004]. O’Reilly also served the League by being a member of its executive committee [Women in World History, 2002]. The Women’s Trade Union League was a non-prejudice club which was comprised of many working class women, but also those from middle and upper class families; WTUL also was open to women of all races as their diverse membership included Italian, Eastern European Jews, Irish, and Native American women [Mattina, 1994]. The WTUL reported in the year between 1908-1909, this young activist had officially given 32 speeches credited to her name alone, while between 1909-1913, reports suggest she gave speeches nearly every day [Mattina, 1994]. In 1909, O’reilly was a part of the ‘Uprising of 20,000’ women workers demanding fairer wages and worker rights, this mass protest was co-sponsored by the Women’s Trade Union League, as well as the National Woman's Party [Mattina, 1994]. This same year, O’ Reilly joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), outwardly supporting minority rights, she also was supporting peace efforts, speaking critically of World War I [Weir, 2004]. In her later years, in 1919 O’Reilly spoke at the International Congress for Working Women, this was in Washington D.C. Despite O’Reilly’s lack of formal education, she was given the opportunity to teach a course at New York’s New School for Social Research on ‘the theory of the labor movement’ in 1925 and 1926 [Mattina, 1994].

CHARACTER/PERSONAL LIFE:

Leonora O’Reilly would go to the streets, set up her stump in an area for an audience to gather, and she would speak to anyone who was willing to listen to her progressive agenda. Her notable dialogue would change the way people perceived women as people, workers, citizens, and the legitimate cause behind their words preached. Leonora would work to empower the voice of women workers, rather than single handedly support their interests on the public platform; she would refer to the women frequently as ‘intelligent women’ and ‘thinking women’ because that is how O’Reilly perceived them, as the patriarchal social-norms at the time did not think as highly of the women. In one of O’Reilly’s 1896 speeches titled ‘Organization’ she put heavy emphasis on providing the unprivileged class of workers to their class-consciousness against the big industries, who O’Reilly and company felt had exploited their hard labor. O’Reilly’s organization, the Wage Earners Suffrage League, a more radical wing of the National Woman’s Party had called for more fair wages, which many upper-class women were not as likely to support; O’Reilly had an ‘equal pay for equal work’ plan for the movement after they had made a dent in their efforts [Mattina, 1994; O’Reilly Papers, Reel 9). In 1898, Leonora O’Reilly took art courses at the Pratt Institute in New York, there she received her degree in 1900 [Weir, 2004].