The Wage Earner’s Suffrage League was a suffrage organization founded in New York City in 1911 that sought to bridge politics and labor towards the end goal of achieving women’s suffrage and ultimately disbanded in 1912. The Wage Earner’s League is an example of a predominately female led effort to bring working women into the suffrage movement to gain political momentum and influence.
Background
The Wage Earner’s Suffrage League was a result of the differing opinions within the Socialist Party and the lack of representation of working women within the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Following hostilities amongst members, the Socialist Party leaders convened in a party conference in December 1909 seeking a rapprochement between suffragism and Socialism. One of the issues discussed was the path of involvement Socialist suffragist should take. The National American Woman Suffrage Association was proving to be an atmosphere uncongenial to working women, while members such as Leonora O’Reilly and Rose Schneiderman injected new vigor into organizing and sought to break from its traditions. Socialist suffragists represented by Rose Schneiderman and Leonora O’Reilly pressed for the Socialist party to allow working women to freely choose their potential supporters outside of the Socialist Party. Opposing the view of Schneiderman and O'Reilly, several other Socialist suffragists called for Socialist-controlled suffrage work. Due to political alliances, the faction within the Socialist Party headed by Schneiderman and O’Reilly was defeated at the party conference in 1909 as it was decided to pursue suffrage from within the framework of Socialist Party.
Founding
Following their defeat at the Socialist Party conference in 1909, utilizing the assistance of Mary Ritter Beard of the National Woman's Party, Rose Schneiderman and Leonora O'Reilly withdrew to form a separate suffrage organization run by, and for, factory workers seeking to enable working women to utilize the political resources of their choosing. Rose Schneiderman and Leonora O'Reilly officially founded the Wage Earner’s League for Woman Suffrage on March 22, 1911 in New York City. This organization sought to utilize the support of the mainstream suffrage movement in a pragmatic effort to attain the vote for women. Among the organization’s cofounders were shirtwaist makers Clara Lemlich and Mollie Schepps, and laundry worker Margaret Hinchey. The oldest of the founders, Leonora O'Reilly, was elected the president of the Wage Earner’s League while the famed organizer of the New York shirtwaist strike of 1909, Clara Lemlich, was elected its vice president and would serve as the organization’s chief organizer.
Organizational practices and goals
The Wage Earner’s Suffrage League prioritized giving a political voice to wage-earning women and sought to keep organizational control firmly within their hands, while also reaching out to immigrants and non-wage-earning women. The league’s founders agreed upon the principle framework of allowing only workers to become full voting members, ensuring the league would be for, and ran by, workers. Although it restricted full membership solely to workers, the Wage Earners Suffrage League did not reject the participation of other women altogether. Although it did not reject their participation, it did restrict their membership capacity, not allowing them to hold any sway in regard to the shaping of the league’s campaigns, literature, or speeches. Resulting from the league’s leaders heavy focus upon factories and immigrant neighborhoods as grounds for its outreach, the organization’s membership was decidedly working-class. While the majority of the league’s membership was from within the working-class, its small number of non-working-class members provided most of the financial support that constituted the league’s budget. These non-working class members were termed not as members, but allies, and were permitted to attend the league’s meetings and assist with the league’s work. The Wage Earner’s Suffrage League chose was an affiliate with the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The Wage Earner’s Suffrage League identified itself as the labor wing of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.