Mary Stirling was an American labor unionist.

Stirling worked as a shoemaker in Philadelphia. In 1880, she joined a new Knights of Labor local, Garfield Assembly 1684, which she came to run with Mary Hanafin.[1]

In 1883, Stirling was elected as one of eight District 1 delegates to the national Knights of Labor convention.[2] The conventions had previously been all-male, but union leader Terence V. Powderly ruled that women should be admitted on an equal basis to men.[3] Stirling was appointed as the Grand Venerable Sage of the convention, and received three votes for Grand Worthy Foreman, the second-in-command of the union.[2]

In 1885, Stirling was elected as General Venerable Sage of the union's convention again. She was also appointed as secretary of a Knights of Labor committee to collect data on women and work. In 1886, she received seven votes in the election for chair of the co-operative board.[2]

As of 1902, Stirling was still living in Philadelphia, where she was the forewoman of a department in a large shoe factory.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Weir, Robert (2000). Knights Unhorsed. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814328736.
  2. 1 2 3 Report on Condition of Woman and Child-wage Earners in the United States. Washington DC: United States Bureau of Labor. 1911.
  3. ↑ Murray, Emmett; Bernard, Elaine (2011). The Lexicon of Labor. 9781458731647.
  4. ↑ "Labor Old Timers". The Dillon Tribune. September 19, 1902. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
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