"When you go to a factory as I have done, and see young girls in the first flush of womanhood bending their backs to the machine, or sitting crouched upon a chair putting stitches into men's hats; or standing with the stench of dead beasts in their nostrils in packing houses, putting sausages into sausage skins, standing on slime-soaked floors with wet feet; or when you see them in the laundries in steam filled rooms because there is no adequate hood over the machine, you marvel at the courage, or buoyancy of youth. And then when you see middle aged women with their drawn faces, still at the same kind of work they were doing as young girls, with evidently the life, buoyancy and hope crushed out; or when you see the old, old women who should be tenderly treated because of their age, we marvel at the tragedy of life which held such promise and gave so little fulfillment."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Labor activistsFeminists from the United StatesSocialists from the United StatesWomen's rights activistsLabor leaders
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rose_Schneiderman
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Rose Schneiderman
Rose Schneiderman (April 6, 1882 – August 11, 1972) was a Polish-born American socialist and feminist, and one of the most prominent labor union leaders who was a woman. As a member of the New York Women's Trade Union League, she drew attention to unsafe workplace conditions, following the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, and as a suffragist she helped to pass the New York state referendum of 1917 that gave women the right to vote. Schneiderman was also a founding member of the American
34 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Rose Schneiderman →
Related Quotes
"The girls and women by their meetings and discussions come to understand and sympathize with each other, and more and…"
"we must stand together to resist, for we will get what we can take-just that and no more."
"There are many factories and trades where women stand all day where there are even no chairs, though those are called…"
"Many in the audience were tired of resolutions being passed but never acted upon."
"What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist the right to life as a rich woman has it, the …"
"I would be a traitor to these poor burned bodies if I came here to talk good fellowship. We have tried you good peopl…"
"When I was about five years of age my parents brought me to this country and we settled in New York. So my earliest r…"
"I was doing quite well when the factory burned down, destroying all our machines-150 of them. This was very hard on t…"
"After I had been working as a cap maker for three years it began to dawn on me that we girls needed an organization. …"
"what an absurd law, to require employees to testify against their employer before action can be taken."