Louise Leonard McLaren (August 10, 1885 – December 16, 1968) born in
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
Wellsboro is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. The borough was founded by Benjamin Wistar Morris. It is located northwest of Williamsport. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census.
Early in the 20th century, Wellsboro was the shipp ...
, was founder of the
Southern Summer School for Women Workers.
Early career
She attended
Miss Beret's School for Ladies in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...
and went on to earn her A.B. at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
in 1907; She then taught history until 1914 when she became the YWCA industrial secretary in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. In this capacity she traveled through the south in order to organize women workers in industry. After earning an A.M. in economics at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1927
she decided to organize the Southern Summer School for Women Workers. Leonard recruited a faculty from women's colleges. It was modeled on the
Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry
The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry (1921–1938) was a residential summer school program that brought approximately 100 young working women—mostly factory workers with minimal education—to the Bryn Mawr College campus, i ...
originated by
Hilda Worthington Smith. She viewed workers' education as a means for social change. Writing in ''Vassar Quarterly'' about her work she commented, "these awakening workers of the South have a chance to get worker's education, as they demand social and economic enfranchisement."
To the South
The first Southern Summer School met at rented facilities in 1927 at
Sweet Briar College in Virginia. It never had permanent quarters, and moved each year. The 25 students each year were carefully chosen and all white, but the philosophy that Louise espoused made no difference between faculty and student, emphasizing ''"there is no line drawn between faculty and student as there is in academic life."'' The students were chosen to represent all the typical industries of the south and Leonard was intent on teaching the "social attitudes appropriate to the machine age". In 1930 Louise Leonard married Myron McLaren, a professor at St.Johns college in Maryland. When he lost his job during the depression she supported them both. The couple was childless and she devoted herself to the work, under her charge more than 300 working-class women came to summer residence, being trained as leaders in their fields. In 1938 men were included in the residence program and by 1940 half of the students were men. She had the support of the labor unions and had a commitment to the tenets of workers' education.
Later career
In 1944 Louise McLaren moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
where she served as organizer for the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
Political Action committee. She held various positions eventually retiring from a teaching and research position with the American Labor Education Service. She was part of a network of reform-minded women that met in the 1920s and later became academic social scientists (including Marie Algor,
Hilda (Jane) Smith, Mary C. Barker,
Ernestine Friedmann, Alice Shoemaker, Amy Bruce, and Eleanor G. Coit). Some were former YWCA industrial and executive secretaries whom went on to establish summer schools, taught workers' education programs, did research and field work, and also held seminars and conferences for workers' education. Throughout the years of cooperative work in the field they managed to stay in touch and this resulted in lasting friendships.
She died in East Stroudsburg, Pa. in 1968 of heart disease at age 83. She had a vision of industrial society and with an unfailing sense of optimism and with hard work and dedication inspired several generations of southern working women.
Further reading
*"Recognizing Regional Differences: The Southern Summer School for Women Workers," in ''Sisterhood and Solidarity: Workers' Education for Women'', 1914-1984, edited by Joyce Kornbluh and Mary Frederickson, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1984, 148-186.
*"Biographical sketches of Mary C. Barker and Louise Leonard McLaren" in ''Notable American Women, The Modern Period'', edited by Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green (Cambridge:Harvard University Press, 1980) pp. 50–52, 452-254.
*"The Southern Summer School for Women Workers in Industry," Southern Exposure, in ''Generations: Women in the South'', Vol. 2 (1977)
*Oral history
*''Notable American Women: The Modern Period : a Biographical Dictionary'' by Barbara Sicherman pg. 453
*''Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators'' by Frederik Ohles, Shirley M. Ohles, John G. Ramsay pg.222
* Researcher - Mary E. Frederickson - Emory University
* Online Archive
See also
*
Miss Dana's School for Young Ladies Miss Dana's School for Young Ladies was a private boarding and finishing school active from 1877 to 1912, during the Gilded Age of Morristown. It was founded in 1860 as the Morris Female Institute. Its location was in Morristown, New Jersey at 1 ...
*
New Labor Forum
''New Labor Forum'' (, E-) is a national labor journal of debate, analysis and new ideas. ''New Labor Forum'' is published by the CUNY Joseph S. Murphy Institute and SAGE Press, three times a year, in January, May, and September. Founded in 1997, ...
*
Workers' Education Bureau of America
Workers' Education Bureau of America or WEB or Bureau (1921–1951) was an organization established to assist labor colleges and other worker training centers involved in the American labor movement. The WEB was an important development in labor e ...
*
Hilda Worthington Smith
*
M. Carey Thomas
Martha Carey Thomas (January 2, 1857 – December 2, 1935) was an American educator, suffragist, and linguist. She was the second president of Bryn Mawr College, a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Biography
Early life
...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Louise Leonard
Adult education leaders
1865 births
1968 deaths
Workers' rights activists
History of labor relations in the United States
People from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
American social scientists