Thread by @blkwomenradical

Honoring #BlackWomenRadicals at the Vanguard of the Labor Movement: Nannie Helen Burroughs ✨

100 years ago, Nannie Helen Burroughs organized and launched a Black women’s labor organization, the National Association of Wage Earners (NAWE) in 1921.

“Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961) devoted her life to improving the lives of Black women & girls. She often went up against men who could not imagine women in leadership positions &, throughout her career, campaigned for the rights & dignity of Black women.”

“In 1920, Burroughs organized a union for domestic workers, the National Association of Wage Earners (NAWE). According to scholar Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, this year marks the 100th anniversary of NAWE, which was a little-known but important Black women’s labor organization.”

“Burroughs launched the NAWE as part of her effort to integrate comprehensive labor reform into the movement for voting rights.”

“Besides pushing for better wages & working conditions, NAWE served as an employment agency for Black domestic workers & operated its own factory, hiring women to sew work dresses, caps and aprons, which were sold through the mail.”

“Burroughs was president and Mary McLeod Bethune vice-president of the union, which also operated a Domestic Service Practice House for training women in one of the few avenues of employment available to them.”

“In addition to helping command higher wages, professionalizing domestic service increased respect for women who worked in positions where they were often subject to degrading treatment & sexual assault.”

Sources: “Civil Rights Tour: Education - Nannie Helen Burroughs” by DC Historic Sites: historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/920

“On Labor Day, we remember the Black women who helped win labor rights” by Danielle Phillips-Cunningham: washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…