Part: 123456789         Session: 1         Page na123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173 [missing]174 [missing]175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342342a343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444 of 444

I and another woman were told to bring up these laundry workers and fill the boxes. We had, I think, six boxes at our disposal. We were getting laundry workers from here and there to go. I went over and got two old ladies who said, “Sure, we haven't been east of 9th Avenue since we've been here,” and they didn't know how they'd get there. So somebody said to me, “You go get them.” I went and got them. They were all dressed up because they were going somewhere. They didn't know just where they were going. They'd heard of the Hippodrome, but they'd never seen it.

I took them there and got them up. We sat down in a box. It was then almost time for the curtain. They looked at the house. They looked all around at the boxes. They leaned over and looked at the audience. They looked up at the two or three tiers of balconies in that old theatre. One of them turned to the other, amidst all these people on a Wednesday afternoon, and said, “Why, sure, Mrs. O'Leary, there's mony idle in this town besides ourselves.” The Hippodrome was full of people with nothing else to do on Wednesday afternoon. It was very impressive.

Organization kept going on little by little. The greatest strength of the women's organization was always, and I'm not sure it isn't now, in the needle trades, although women are regularly admitted to the unions now in most trades.