Alice Henry (21 March 1857 – 14 February 1943)
Early life
Henry was born on 21 March 1857 in Richmond, Melbourne. Her journalism mainly focused on progressive causes such as labour reform, disabled children and proportional representation. She became closely associated with the progressive movement in Melbourne. Henry moved to the United States from Australia in 1906 and became office secretary of the Women's Trade Union League in Chicago. While working for the Women's Trade Union League she became prominent in the fight for women's suffrage, union organisation and labour rights. Both of these books focus on the particular struggles and inequalities working-class women faced during this time period.
Suffrage and the Women's Trade Union League
The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) was established in 1903 and consisted of reformers seeking to combine trade unionism and feminism to create a new force towards the obstacles women faced when organising women into unions. In Henry's 1915 essay "A Separate Piece" published in The Trade Union Woman she discussed some of the problems associated with organising. One of the issues she addressed was the tension between middle-class reformers of the WTUL and the working-class women. A possible solution that she advocated was the establishment of separate women's locals.
Henry's background with Fabian socialism, as well as her knowledge of Australian labour legislation and woman suffrage attracted the attention of Margaret Dreier Robins, a prominent reformer of the time. Henry was invited by Robins to work for the National Women's Trade Union League of America in Chicago as a lecturer and field-worker. As a field worker Henry organised new branches, and as a journalist she became a key figure and voice in the campaign for 'woman suffrage, union organisation, vocational education, and labour legislation.'
Between 1907 and 1925 Henry served as an editor, publicist and lecturer for the WTUL. Henry played an active role in mobilising both the middle class as well as trade union support for the League's legislative, educational and organizational goals. As an activist she participated in many clubs such as the Melbourne Shakespeare Society, was secretary of the Women Writer's Club, lectured and frequently at women's organisations (like the Prahran and Kew Progressive League). Alice also served as an advisory member on committees set up by the National Council of Women and the Victorian Women's Federation. It is important to note that she was not a leader or organiser of the women's movement rather she worked as a prominent publicist within it. Life and Labor was the journal of the National Women Trade Union League. It was published in Chicago and effectively promoted women's suffrage.
On 19 May 1911 a suffrage meeting was held at The Pfister Hotel club room, there Henry urged that the best ways to obtain result was to carry out a campaign along intensive lines. There she advocated for street meetings to create interest in the suffrage cause. Henry said,
"Many persons will stop to listen at a street meeting who would not come to a suffrage meeting...The talks should be short about five minutes for those who are attracted will only pause for a few moments and a long speech would be lost on them. Any ready speaker would do."