The Daughters of St. Crispin was an American
labor union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
of women
shoemakers, founded in
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...
on July 28, 1869, and was the first national women's labor union in 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 ...
.
The union began with a
strike of over a thousand female workers in 1860 in
. By the end of 1869, it had a total of 24 local
lodges across the United States, the largest of which had over 400 members.
Lodges were present in Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Conventions of all the lodges were held annually in Massachusetts until 1872. Carrie Wilson served as president of the union and Abbie Jacques was the secretary.
The name "Daughters of St. Crispin" was inspired by the contemporary men's union of shoemakers, the
Order of the Knights of St. Crispin
The Order of the Knights of St. Crispin was an American labor union of shoe workers formed in Wisconsin in 1867. It soon reached a membership of 50,000 or more, largely in the Northeast. However it was poorly organized and faded away by 1874. The ...
.
Saint Crispin Saint Crispin may refer to:
*Crispin and Crispinian (3rd century), martyrs (memorial: 25 October)
* Crispin of Pavia (5th century), bishop (7 January)
*Crispin of Viterbo
Crispino da Viterbo (13 November 1668 – 19 May 1750) - born Pietro Fior ...
is the patron saint of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers.
In 1870, a convention of the Daughters of St. Crispin unanimously adopted a resolution which demanded equal pay for doing the same work as men.
In 1872, 300 members of the union staged a strike in three factories in Stoneham, Massachusetts. This strike was unsuccessful but another that same year in Lynn, Massachusetts was successful, granting workers higher wages.
On one occasion, the Daughters of St. Crispin continued a strike after the male Knights of St. Crispin ended it, because they opposed a policy that would require a $5 deposit on employment, which would be forfeited if they did not stay for a full three-month testing period. The factory owners reversed the policy, but tried again a year later. The second time, the nearly 900 members struck again, and again won.
The Daughters of St. Crispin represented both resident stitchers, who lived in towns near the factories, and the 'floating' stitchers who traveled from factory to factory in response to seasonal shifts in work.
Members were involved in contemporary debates about the impact of suffrage on the interests of working class women and middle class morality.
Debates about suffrage were never fully resolved before the union dissolved.
Members of the union testified before Congress in 1874 in favor of labor laws that limited women and children to a 10-hour work day in manufacturing jobs.
Though the national organization began to decline as early as 1873 as a result of the
Long Depression,
local chapters in Massachusetts remained active,
and many individual members eventually joined the
Knights of Labor which formed in 1869.
References
Defunct trade unions in the United States
Footwear industry trade unions
Feminism and society
History of women in Massachusetts
Trade unions established in 1860
Shoemakers
Trade unions disestablished in the 1870s
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