slogan, and threw herself into the movement." As general investigator for the Knights of Labor, Mrs. Barry immediately began to examine the conditions of sewing women and of women factory workers, but she was hampered in her work by the absence of official authority that prevented her from entering any establishments whose owners objected to her investigations. At that time, moreover, national and state labor bureaus were coming into existence, which made private investigation less important. Mrs. Barry, therefore, turned all her energy to that field of service for which she was best qualified: agitation and organization. As the official representative of the Knights of Labor, she travelled about the country, arousing and organizing the women workers. She addressed hundreds of meetings, she formed dozens of new women's locals, and instilled new life into those already in existence. She inaugurated an educational campaign through a widespread distribution of pamphlets and leaflets, and her annual reports contained valuable suggestions and recommendations, derived from her close, personal observations. For four years she gave her undivided strength and ability to her work. Then a second marriage unfortunately took her from the field of social service, and the work she had created and conducted passed with her into history. We can no longer point to actual results of Mrs. Barry's labors, but we may be certain that many of the seeds she has sown have cast root and grown, and ere bearing fruit for the present-day labor movement. Leonora M. Barry was the direct, spiritual predecessor of our own Leonora O'Reilly, Rose Schneidermann, Agnes Nestor, and the many other modern working girls who have risen from the ranks to become leaders among their fellow workers.
With the founding of the American Federation of Labor began the present era of the labor movement. This association, like the Knights of Labor, always encouraged the organization of women, and expressed this attitude in a resolution at its first convention in 1885. In 1891 a committee on women's work was appointed, with women acting as chairman and secretary. The committee recommended the appointment of a national woman organizer. This recommendation was carried out in 1900, and the national woman organizer was also made assistant editor of
61
