Troy in Rensselaer County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
First Female Labor Union 1864
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 5, 2024
1. First Female Labor Union 1864 Marker
1830's to mid-1880's: Collar laundries were predominantly located in Central and North Central Troy.
May 28, 1869: Collar sewers, ironers, and laundresses successfully strike for 20% wage increase.
January 27, 1880: Changes in technology reduce labor force which precipitates strike by women collar starchers who parade down 6th Street before a jeering crowd.
Mid-1880's: Membership in the Joan of Arc Assembly of collar laundresses reaches 4,000 members, the largest assembly of women in the national Knights of Labor.
Mullany and Keegan are credited with the foundation for women's organized labor.
April 1, 1998: Kate Mullany National Historic Site opens in her house at 350 8th Street, now home to the American Labor Studies Center.
[Caption] Patton Collar Manufactory & Laundry, Hutton and 6th Street Collection: Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, NY
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Labor Unions • Women. A significant historical month for this entry is February 1864.
Location. 42° 44.393′ N, 73° 41.144′ W.
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York, in the Capital District, and in the Albany Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Unity House Founded (approx. 0.2 miles away); Kate Mullany House (approx. Ό mile away); Welcome to the Collar City! (approx. Ό mile away); Troy Flag Day Parade (approx. 0.4 miles away); Locking Through (approx. half a mile away); Church of the Holy Cross (approx. half a mile away); The Great Fire of 1862 (approx. half a mile away); W & L E Gurley Building
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, October 5, 2024
2. First Female Labor Union 1864 Marker
The marker is located 1/4 mile west of the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
Also see . . . Kate Mullany: A Trade Union Pioneer. It was a cold snowy February morning when Kate Mullany left her home at 34 North 2nd Street in Troy, New York, waved goodbye to her widowed mother, Bridget, her older sister Mary, her two younger sisters and her brother Frank to walk to her job at the laundry. (Kate Mullany National Historic Site) (Submitted on December 1, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
via Kate Mullany National Historic Site, National Park Service (Public Domain)
3. The Kate Mullany House
Keystone View Co.; via Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (Public Domain), 1907
4. Sewing room, shirt factory, Troy, N.Y.
These sewers were among thousands of women, mostly immigrants, who worked in Troy's garment factories at the turn of the 20th century.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 1, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 239 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 1, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 3. submitted on November 5, 2011, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. 4. submitted on December 1, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
