Leonora O'Reilly
Encyclopedia
Leonora O’Reilly was an American
feminist, suffragist, and trade union
organizer. She was a founding member of the Women's Trade Union League
.
, and Winifred (Rooney) O'Reilly, an Irish-born dressmaker. John O'Reilly died when Leonora was three years old. Upon his death, Winifred O'Reilly supported herself and the child by sewing and taking in boarders.
O'Reilly accompanied her mother to meetings at Cooper Union
and her father's friend, Victor Drury, helped instill in her an appreciation for the Italian nationalist Mazzin
i. O'Reilly counted among her influences radical Catholic priest and social justice advocate Fr. Edward McGlynn and anarchist Peter Kropotkin
.
O'Reilly began working in a factory at age 13. At 16 she joined the Knights of Labor
, and Winifred O'Reilly soon followed her daughter's lead. Leonora belonged to many organizations composed of both working class and elite men and women. Mentors helped further her education. After attending the Pratt Institute
in Brooklyn, O'Reilly and her mother became residents at the Asacog House, a settlement in Brooklyn. She also taught at the Manhattan Trade School.
Only with the financial support of elite women was O'Reilly able to give up manual labor and become a full-time labor organizer with the Women's Trade Union League. In this capacity she served as a volunteer investigator to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
of 1911.
An ardent socialist, Leonora O'Reilly was a delegate to the 1915 Hague Women's Peace Convention, sailing through mine-laden waters aboard the MS Noordam. She also cooperated with Indian independence organizations and the NAACP. Around 1918, O'Reilly stopped working on behalf of labor and devoted herself to the radical section of American Irish nationalism in 1918.
Leonora and Winifred O'Reilly both made their home in Brooklyn.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
feminist, suffragist, and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organizer. She was a founding member of the Women's Trade Union League
Women's Trade Union League
The Women's Trade Union League was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women formed in 1903 to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions...
.
Biography
Leonora O'Reilly was the daughter of John O'Reilly, a printer and member of the Knights of LaborKnights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence Powderly...
, and Winifred (Rooney) O'Reilly, an Irish-born dressmaker. John O'Reilly died when Leonora was three years old. Upon his death, Winifred O'Reilly supported herself and the child by sewing and taking in boarders.
O'Reilly accompanied her mother to meetings at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
and her father's friend, Victor Drury, helped instill in her an appreciation for the Italian nationalist Mazzin
Mazzin
Mazzin is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 60 km northeast of Trento...
i. O'Reilly counted among her influences radical Catholic priest and social justice advocate Fr. Edward McGlynn and anarchist Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
.
O'Reilly began working in a factory at age 13. At 16 she joined the Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence Powderly...
, and Winifred O'Reilly soon followed her daughter's lead. Leonora belonged to many organizations composed of both working class and elite men and women. Mentors helped further her education. After attending the Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
in Brooklyn, O'Reilly and her mother became residents at the Asacog House, a settlement in Brooklyn. She also taught at the Manhattan Trade School.
Only with the financial support of elite women was O'Reilly able to give up manual labor and become a full-time labor organizer with the Women's Trade Union League. In this capacity she served as a volunteer investigator to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history...
of 1911.
An ardent socialist, Leonora O'Reilly was a delegate to the 1915 Hague Women's Peace Convention, sailing through mine-laden waters aboard the MS Noordam. She also cooperated with Indian independence organizations and the NAACP. Around 1918, O'Reilly stopped working on behalf of labor and devoted herself to the radical section of American Irish nationalism in 1918.
Leonora and Winifred O'Reilly both made their home in Brooklyn.