Kate Mullany (1845-1906) was an early female labor leader who started the all-women Collar Laundry Union in Troy, New York in February 1864. It was one of the first women's unions that lasted longer than the resolution of a specific issue.^[1][2]

Kate Mullany, an Irish immigrant who, with her co-workers Esther Keegan and Sarah McQuillan, organized approximately 300 women into the first sustained female union in the country, the Collar Laundry Union, in 1864. Mullany went on to be its president and was elected second vice-president of the National Labor Union.

Only 19 years at the time, Mullany led a successful 6-day strike in 1864 to increase wages and improve working conditions.^[3][4] At some point, she had married a John Fogarty and her obituary was listed under that surname^[5]. She died in 1906 and was buried in Troy, New York.^[6]

The Kate Mullany House, at 350 8th Street in Troy, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1998,^[7] and became a National Historic Site in 2008.^[1][3]

In 2000, Mullany was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.^[2] She has been honored by the New York State Senate,^[8] and her home is on the Women's Heritage Trail.^[9]

See also

• Kate Mullany House
• Collar Laundry Union
• Troy, New York
• National Women's Hall of Fame

References

External links

• The Kate Mullany story at the Public Employees Federation web site
• Connect Kids to Troy History
• America's Working Women: A Documentary History, 1600 to the Present By Rosalyn Baxandall, Linda Gordon, Susan Reverby Published 1995 W. W. Norton & Company 356 pages ISBN 0393312623 found at http://books.google.com/books?id=9qzWvhNZ5pMC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=%22kate+mullany%22&source=web&ots=oPc59LLark&sig=xJZ27YgAyL-3FjcOr-Ln0DecjnI

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