This year's May Day celebration is honoring one of my favorite women, Kate Mullaney. Kate is gaining recognition for her role in creating the first female labor union in the country in the 1860's. The event this year is trying to raise money to help restore her 8th Street home (350 8th), recently purchased and soon to be the home of the American Labor Studies Center. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997 and dedicated by the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on July 15, 1998. There is currently legislation before Congress to make the Mullaney House a National Historic Site.
The non-profit American Labor Studies Center is trying to add labor studies to the standard curricula in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Irish-born Kate Mullaney (c. 1845-1906) supported herself, her mother and her two younger sisters and along with Esther Keegan and Sarah McQuillan, organized the Collar Workers Union in 1864. They led about four strikes but by 1869 the bosses had enough and their last strike was answered by a lockout. Eventually the union was crushed but Kate continued working for women's rights. She was the first woman to hold an office in the national labor union when William Sylvis appointed her assistant secretary in 1868 and remarked: "We now have a recognized officer from the female side of the house - one of the smartest and most energetic women in America." Kate died on August 17, 1906 and was buried in a pauper's grave in St. Peter's cemetery in Troy. A few years ago a Celtic cross was erected, paid for by contributions by local labor members and the public.
A poem, while not written specifically about Kate, reminds me of her when I read it. It is titled "A Girl Strike-Leader" and was written by Florence Kiper Frank and published in 1915.
A white-faced, stubborn little thing
Whose years are not quite twenty years,
Eyes steely now and done with tears,
Mouth scornful of its suffering --
The young mouth! -- body virginal
Beneath the cheap, ill-fitting suit,
A bearing quaintly resolute,
A flowering hat, satirical.
A soul that steps to the sound of the fife
And banners waving red to war,
Mystical, knowing scarce wherefore --
A Joan in a modern strife.
This year's celebration theme is freedom of speech and is sponsored by the Troy Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, The New York Labor History Association, The New York State AFL-CIO, the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District and the Eighth Step Coffee House. This is the sixth year the May Day event is being held.
There will be a number of speakers, poets, musicians, and other performers performing in Seminary (Sage) Park in downtown Troy from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. Ironically, Seminary Park was adjacent to the Moulton Coffee House where Emma Willard began the first female college (Troy Female Seminary) in 1821.
The keynote address will be given by well known Labor Historian Staughton Lynd, author of We Are All Leaders: The Alternative Unionism of the Early 1930s and other books.
Other people scheduled to speak include: Paul Cole, NYS AFL-CIO; Ibeth Vergera, Colombian Trade Unionist; "Four who dared" historical actors portraying Kate Mullaney, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman and Emma Willard; Solidarity Singers; open microphone for poets and musicians; tours of historic labor sites in Troy. Free food and drink will also be available.
Seminary (Sage) Park is located on Congress Street between First and Second Streets in downtown Troy.
In the evening, festivities continue at Revolution Hall (next to the Troy Pub on River Street) in Troy where a musical benefit for the Kate Mullaney House will take place from 7:00 pm - 12:00 pm. Scheduled performers include Erin Harkes and Rebound; Mark Emanatian and Folding Sky; Scotty Mac and the Goldtops.
If you would like a good read about Kate and the working women of Troy, read Carole Turbin's Working Women of the Collar City (University of Illinois Press (1992)).