A Microhistory of Cross-Class Feminism in New York City, 1907–1911: The Activism of Carola Woerishoffer

Abstract

This microhistory is a study of one woman's efforts in New York City between 1907 and 1911 to join the efforts of three local feminist organizations—Greenwich House, the National Consumers League, and the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL)—that were combining the energies of women from the industrial working class, middle class, and upper class in sustained drives to improve the working conditions and wages of women factory and steam laundry workers. One woman who devoted herself to these three organizational cross-class initiatives was Carola Woerishoffer (1885–1911). Microhistory is a method of studying the past that makes use of remnants of evidence still available about people, organizations, or communities that have been partially or completely forgotten.