Paterson, Emma (1848–1886)

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Paterson, Emma (1848–1886)

English labor organizer. Born Emma Ann Smith on April 5, 1848, in London, England; died of diabetes on December 1, 1886, in Westminster; only child of Henry Smith (a schoolmaster) and Emma Dockerill Smith; privately educated by her father; married Thomas Paterson, on July 24, 1873.

Founded the Women's Protective and Provident League, known as the Women's Trade Union League after 1891 (1874); was the first woman to attend the annual Trades Union Congress (1875); edited The Women's Union Journal (1876–86); founded the Women's Printing Society (1876). Published several articles.

Emma Paterson, who lived less than 39 years, founded an organization which would long outlast her. Well into the 20th century, her league would organize working women, advocate vocational training, and seek protective labor legislation in both Great Britain and the United States. When Paterson organized the Women's Protective and Provident League (WPPL), later known as the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL), she relied on the help of middle- and upper-class allies and trade unionists. That spirit of attempting to cross class lines, while not always successfully done, would be the hallmark of the League.

Emma Paterson was born in 1848 in London, the only child of Henry Smith, a National Society schoolmaster, and Emma Dockerill Smith . Young Emma was particularly close to her father, who encouraged her to learn the classics as well as perfect her whistling. When Henry died, his 16-year-old daughter was devastated, and she and her mother were left in poverty. Both mother and daughter tried running their own school but it soon failed. Young Emma, after working as a governess and a private secretary, eventually found her calling. In 1867, at age 19, she became the assistant secretary for the Working Men's Club and Institute Union. Emma worked for the Club for five years, coming to understand the importance of trade unionism for workers. After a brief period as secretary for the Women's Suffrage Association, she married one of the original members of the Working Men's Club, Thomas Paterson. Thomas, a cabinetmaker by trade, was interested in trade unionism, so the newlyweds took an extended honeymoon to the United States with the intent of investigating union activity there. Emma came into contact with women workers as exploited as those in England and was impressed by the women typographers and umbrella makers who had formed unions. After several months of travel, the Patersons returned to England and Emma went into action. In 1874, she founded the Women's Protective and Provident League.

Paterson did not support protective legislation aimed only at women and children (although the league in later years did), seeing that combination as degrading to women workers. While she wanted women workers to be able to organize into trade unions just as men did, Paterson felt strongly that separate unions for women would give them greater representation. It was her hope that the WPPL would provide "the feeling of strength and mutual sympathy and helpfulness afforded by close association with others." Having briefly apprenticed to a bookbinder in her youth, Paterson first sought out women bookbinders. Within a few months of its formation, the WPPL assisted in the organization of 300 women bookbinders, the longest lasting of the WPPL-affiliated unions. However, until her death in 1886 at age 38, Paterson also organized women milliners, garment makers, and upholsters. In addition, she established the WPPL as a member of the male-dominated Trade Unions Congress. When Lady Emily Dilke assumed control of the WPPL in 1887, she took charge of a vital organization dedicated to women workers, thanks to the determination and skill of Emma Paterson.