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Kids Corner
Kate and the Collar Laundry
St. Patrick’s Day is a special time for Irish-Americans to celebrate their heritage and culture. And it’s a chance for everyone to honor the hard work of Irish immigrants in the 1800s, an era of long hours and low pay in factories that were dangerous, crowded and filthy.
One of those immigrants was a teen-age girl named Kate Mullaney. In the early 1860s, Kate went to work in a commercial laundry in the busy industrial city of Troy, N.Y. She needed to earn money to support her ailing mother and her younger sisters.
Kate and other young women spent 12 to 14 hours a day in grueling conditions. They often burned their hands as they bleached, boiled, scrubbed, rinsed, dried and ironed detachable shirt collars and cuffs. Yet they were paid just $2 to $4 a week.
Some of the workers asked for higher wages but the laundry owners refused. Kate had heard of unions and how banding together was helping men improve their pay and working conditions. She decided that women could do the same thing.
Starting a union wasn’t easy, but Kate was determined. After a lot of hard work, and help from men in the Iron Molders’ Union, Kate organized 300 women from the city’s 14 laundries. They called themselves the Collar Laundry Union, believed to be the country’s first female union.
At noon on Feb. 23, 1864, the women went on strike. They demanded a 20 to 25 percent raise — about a dollar more a week for the top-paid workers. They also wanted the laundries to make it safer to use new starching machines that were scalding hot.
After five days, the laundry owners realized how much they needed the women back at work. They decided to meet the union’s demands. In 1866 and 1868, the women voted to strike again, and each time won higher wages.
Kate had become a working-class heroine in her town and befriended many union leaders. She and other members of the Collar Laundry Union began to help more women organize unions.
In 1868, Kate attended the National Labor Congress in New York City with the country’s other union leaders. She was asked to coordinate women’s efforts to organize across the United States. It was the first time a woman held a national labor union office.
Kate dedicated her life to fighting for working women and is remembered with honor today by union members in Troy. For many years, though, she was forgotten. When she died in 1906, she was buried in an unmarked grave.
The community of Troy fixed that in 1999. Union members raised money to mark Kate’s grave with a large stone Celtic cross.
A year earlier, First Lady Hillary Clinton unveiled a plaque designating Kate’s house as a National Historic Landmark. It reads: “There have been very few women with the talents and dedication of Kate Mullaney. She worked hard to make it possible for other women to have better wages and better working conditions. She literally transformed the lives of women.”
The photograph and background for this story were provided by the New York State Public Employees Union, which published a booklet titled “Kate Mullaney: True Labor Pioneer.”
For Young Readers: CWA Essay Contest
What’s cool about being a part of a union family?
The CWA News is calling on all our younger readers — anyone 18 or younger can participate — to tell us “What the Union Means to My Family,” in an essay of 350 words or less.
The rules are simple. Essays can be written by hand or typed on a computer, and should be submitted for one of these three age categories: under 12 years, 13-15 years, and 16-18 years.
Mail your essay by May 15, 2001, to:
Winning authors in each category will receive a $100 savings bond; second-place winners will receive a $50 savings bond. All the winners will be announced in June and the top essays will be published in the CWA News.
Match Game
Can you match these Irish Americans with the work that made them famous?
A) George Meany (1894-1980)
B) Matthew Brady (1823-1896)
C) Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986)
D) Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
E) Buster Keaton (1895-1966)
F) Mother Jones (1830-1930)
G) Richard J. Daley (1902-1976)
H) Dorothy Day (1891-1980)
I) Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965)
J) Nellie Bly (1864-1922)
1) Silent movie comedian and filmmaker
2) Seventh president of the United States
3) Early female investigative reporter
4) Mayor of Chicago for 21 years
5) Peace activist; Catholic Worker founder
6) Civil War photographer
7) First president of merged AFL-CIO
8) Painter noted for southwest watercolors
9) Legendary labor activist; strike organizer
10) CBS war correspondent
Answers:
a — 7; b — 6; c — 8; d — 2; e — 1; f — 9; g — 4; h — 5; i — 10; j — 3
St. Patrick’s Day is a special time for Irish-Americans to celebrate their heritage and culture. And it’s a chance for everyone to honor the hard work of Irish immigrants in the 1800s, an era of long hours and low pay in factories that were dangerous, crowded and filthy.
One of those immigrants was a teen-age girl named Kate Mullaney. In the early 1860s, Kate went to work in a commercial laundry in the busy industrial city of Troy, N.Y. She needed to earn money to support her ailing mother and her younger sisters.
Kate and other young women spent 12 to 14 hours a day in grueling conditions. They often burned their hands as they bleached, boiled, scrubbed, rinsed, dried and ironed detachable shirt collars and cuffs. Yet they were paid just $2 to $4 a week.
Some of the workers asked for higher wages but the laundry owners refused. Kate had heard of unions and how banding together was helping men improve their pay and working conditions. She decided that women could do the same thing.
Starting a union wasn’t easy, but Kate was determined. After a lot of hard work, and help from men in the Iron Molders’ Union, Kate organized 300 women from the city’s 14 laundries. They called themselves the Collar Laundry Union, believed to be the country’s first female union.
At noon on Feb. 23, 1864, the women went on strike. They demanded a 20 to 25 percent raise — about a dollar more a week for the top-paid workers. They also wanted the laundries to make it safer to use new starching machines that were scalding hot.
After five days, the laundry owners realized how much they needed the women back at work. They decided to meet the union’s demands. In 1866 and 1868, the women voted to strike again, and each time won higher wages.
Kate had become a working-class heroine in her town and befriended many union leaders. She and other members of the Collar Laundry Union began to help more women organize unions.
In 1868, Kate attended the National Labor Congress in New York City with the country’s other union leaders. She was asked to coordinate women’s efforts to organize across the United States. It was the first time a woman held a national labor union office.
Kate dedicated her life to fighting for working women and is remembered with honor today by union members in Troy. For many years, though, she was forgotten. When she died in 1906, she was buried in an unmarked grave.
The community of Troy fixed that in 1999. Union members raised money to mark Kate’s grave with a large stone Celtic cross.
A year earlier, First Lady Hillary Clinton unveiled a plaque designating Kate’s house as a National Historic Landmark. It reads: “There have been very few women with the talents and dedication of Kate Mullaney. She worked hard to make it possible for other women to have better wages and better working conditions. She literally transformed the lives of women.”
The photograph and background for this story were provided by the New York State Public Employees Union, which published a booklet titled “Kate Mullaney: True Labor Pioneer.”
For Young Readers: CWA Essay Contest
What’s cool about being a part of a union family?
The CWA News is calling on all our younger readers — anyone 18 or younger can participate — to tell us “What the Union Means to My Family,” in an essay of 350 words or less.
The rules are simple. Essays can be written by hand or typed on a computer, and should be submitted for one of these three age categories: under 12 years, 13-15 years, and 16-18 years.
Mail your essay by May 15, 2001, to:
- CWA News Essay Contest
Attention: Janelle Hartman
501 3rd Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001.
Winning authors in each category will receive a $100 savings bond; second-place winners will receive a $50 savings bond. All the winners will be announced in June and the top essays will be published in the CWA News.
Match Game
Can you match these Irish Americans with the work that made them famous?
A) George Meany (1894-1980)
B) Matthew Brady (1823-1896)
C) Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986)
D) Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
E) Buster Keaton (1895-1966)
F) Mother Jones (1830-1930)
G) Richard J. Daley (1902-1976)
H) Dorothy Day (1891-1980)
I) Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965)
J) Nellie Bly (1864-1922)
1) Silent movie comedian and filmmaker
2) Seventh president of the United States
3) Early female investigative reporter
4) Mayor of Chicago for 21 years
5) Peace activist; Catholic Worker founder
6) Civil War photographer
7) First president of merged AFL-CIO
8) Painter noted for southwest watercolors
9) Legendary labor activist; strike organizer
10) CBS war correspondent
Answers:
a — 7; b — 6; c — 8; d — 2; e — 1; f — 9; g — 4; h — 5; i — 10; j — 3