Helen MacGrgeor Todd (April 1, 1870 – August 15, 1953) was an American suffragist and worker's rights activist. Todd started her career as an educator and later became a factory inspector. She wrote about child laborers in factories and became concerned with working women's lack of voting rights. Todd campaigned for women's suffrage across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and was an envoy on the Suffrage Special. After women won the right to vote, she continued to advocate for

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

, workers and women.

Biography

Early in Todd's career, she worked as a teacher in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. She became involved with

Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House (named after the original house's first owner Cha ...

and went into

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

. Eventually, she became an Illinois state factory inspector. During her time as an inspector, she studied child laborers and their attitudes about working and education. She interviewed 800 children who worked in factories and published her findings in the April 1913 edition of '' McClure's Magazine''. She was also concerned about women workers and the fact that they had no power because they could not vote. This led to Todd's interest in the

woman's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

movement. In 1910, she took part in an automobile tour to support women's suffrage where she and others spoke to factory workers. Around 1911, she helped popularize the

labor movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

slogan, "

bread and roses "Bread and Roses" is a political slogan as well as the name of an associated poem and song. It originated from a speech given by American women's suffrage activist Helen Todd; a line in that speech about "bread for all, and roses too" inspired ...

." Also in 1911, she went to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

to speak on the topic of suffrage and working women and children. Women in San Francisco asked her to stay on to help organize and support the effort to encourage women to vote in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Todd asked women in California to use their right to vote in order to help make life better for workers, especially women workers. Todd went on to help in other states to win women's suffrage, but eventually came to feel that an amendment for national women's suffrage was critical. In 1913, she testified in front of the House of Representatives on women's suffrage. She spoke with men in New York, urging them to support women's right to vote in 1915. In 1916 she was an envoy for the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on the Suffrage Special, which toured the United States encouraging support for national women's suffrage. When the Silent Sentinels were arrested and mistreated in prison, Todd worked to look into the abuses they faced. She represented the Committee of 1,000 Women who urged their release. After women gained the right to vote, Todd continued advocating for women and workers. In 1920, she created a "Woman to Woman" committee which would bring working and immigrant women into dialogue with American women. When

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n communists were deported, she worked to help the 100 children and wives of these men. Todd also campaigned for women's right to learn about

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

, working with

Margaret Sanger Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...

. She helped create low-cost housing called Twin Oaks in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

for artists, working with

Otto H. Kahn Otto Hermann Kahn (February 21, 1867 – March 29, 1934) was a German-born American Investment banking, investment banker, collecting, collector, Philanthropy, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Kahn was a well-known figure, appearing on the ...

and

Samuel Untermyer Samuel J. Untermyer (March 6, 1858 – March 16, 1940) was a prominent American lawyer and civic leader. He is also remembered for bequeathing his Yonkers, New York estate, now known as Untermyer Park, to the people of New York State. Life S ...

. Todd died on August 15, 1953, at

Columbus Hospital Cabrini Medical Center of New York City was created in 1973 by a merger of two Manhattan hospitals. It closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties cited by the Berger Commission, followed by a bankruptcy filing. In January 2010, the five build ...

in New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Helen M. 1870 births 1953 deaths American social workers American suffragists Educators from Illinois American women educators Factory inspectors