women themselves. I have pointed out how at this particular period most processes of shoe manufacture had already been transferred to the factory, while the binding of shoes was still carried on under the old, domestic system. The sewing machine had not yet been invented, so shoes had to be bound by hand, and shoe binding was exclusively woman's work, done by the women in their own homes, often in connection with housework. Practically all the women of Lynn and the neighboring towns, who were employed at remunerative work at all, were engaged in binding shoes. At first wages had been higher than in other branches of woman's work, but with increasing competition among the workers wages had been reduced, until they had finally reached a level that made self-support practically impossible. It was then that the women shoe binders of Lynn were roused to a sense of their common grievances and proceeded to organize.
On the thirtieth day of December, 1833, about one thousand of them met in the Friends' Meetinghouse in Lynn, organized themselves into a trade union, adopted the rather pompous name, "Female Society of Lynn and Vicinity for the Protection and Promotion of Female Industry," drew up a constitution, elected their officers, and presented their demands to the employers. The concerted action of these women was all the more remarkable because they were not factory workers. They all toiled in the isolation of their own homes and had, therefore, never experienced that community of interests that springs from the daily intercourse with one's fellow workers. Their common need was the only force that brought them together, but it proved sufficiently strong. For several months the new organization fought for the recognition of its demands. It was faithfully supported by the Men's Cordwainer's Union. The men appointed a committee to solicit funds to aid the ladies' society, and resolved that after a certain date they would not work for any shoe manufacturer who refused to comply with the demands of the women shoe binders. So the industrial struggle of that early woman's trade union was led to victory. The shoe binders won practically all their demands and obtained a better standard of living for themselves and their families. But their very success proved their undoing. Women were still too in-
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