jan 1, 1903 - National Women's Trade Union League

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The Women’s Trade Union League was the first national association dedicated to organizing women workers. Founded in 1903, the WTUL was very successful in uniting women from all classes to work toward better working conditions. The organization relied upon the resources of its own members (it received very small financial support from the American Federation of Labor and other organized labor groups). The WTUL came into existence as a result of a 1903 Boston meeting of the AFL, when it became clear that the AFL had no intention of including women. Later that year labor leaders Mary Kenney O’Sullivan and Leonora O’Reilly and settlement workers Lillian Wald and Jane Addams helped found the WTUL, and by 1904 the organization had branches in Chicago, New York, and Boston. From the beginning, the organization had a strong agenda for reform, working to provide working women with educational opportunities and to improve working conditions.

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