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League of Women Shoppers

May 02, 2024

The League of Women Shoppers (LWS) was an American consumer advocacy group that also participated in collective actions that worked towards social justice for workers. They also fought against racial discrimination of all kinds. LWS was founded in 1935 in New York City and Aline Davis Hays served as the first president. Chapters of LWS were formed in cities around the country. Members of LWS were involved in different actions. Some were involved in educating consumers on labor issues. Others watched legislation and put out alerts for members to contact their representatives about the issues. LWS members, most of whom were middle class or upper class women, participated in strikes and pickets and served as allies to working class women and African-American workers. Because of their collective action techniques and also because of animosity from members of another consumer group, Consumers' Research (CR), LWS was accused of Un-American activities in the early 1940s. They were blacklisted and members began to leave, causing the group to dissolve in 1949.

League of Women Shoppers
AbbreviationLWS
Formation1935
Dissolved1949

About edit

The League of Women Shoppers (LWS) was focused on using collective consumer power to reform the conditions of workers.[1] LWS created "buyers' strikes" which often led to boycotts and also raised awareness of various social issues.[2] They also supported African-American buyers' campaigns, such as "Don't buy where you can't work."[2] LWS saw consumable materials as social artifacts which could be judged on how they were produced and brought to the consumer.[3] LWS promoted the idea that women could look into how goods were made, who produced them, and how these people were treated.[4] A group of consumers, mostly women, could help bring more justice through thoughtful choices in shopping.[5]

LWS was strongly pro-labor and was described by the president of the LWS Chicago chapter, Jessie Lloyd O'Connor, as bringing consumers "into understanding and sympathetic action with labor."[6] LWS felt that working conditions were connected to an adverse outcome in the lives of workers, especially for women workers.[7] LWS also felt that consumers' choices were responsible for the conditions of workers.[8] To further their goals, LWS would also work with other groups such as the Consumers' League, the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL), other trade unions, Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), and church groups.[9]

The group emphasized the need for educating consumers on labor conditions and why it was important to support workers' rights.[10] They created pamphlets and newsletters to inform consumers.[11] Consider the Laundry Worker (1937) was created to inform consumers about the working conditions of those who clean clothes for others.[12] LWS informed members about legislative issues and called on members to mobilize and contact their representatives.[13] They also provided other types of education that was beneficial to members who had not attended college.[13] Speeches on various topics were parts of LWS meetings.[14][15]

Most members of the LWS were white women in the middle or upper classes.[16] Working in LWS gave many of these women the feeling that they were doing something important.[16] Generally, the group were also white allies to African American consumer campaigns.[16] They supported an end to racial discrimination and worked to end the poll tax.[17][18] LWS was able to use their social and material privilege in life to support working class women.[19]

History edit

 
Nina P. Collier, center, Chair of the National League of Women Shoppers Legislative Committee testifies in Washington, D.C.

The League of Women Shoppers (LWS) was founded in 1935 in New York City.[4][20] Aline Davis Hays hosted the first meeting in her apartment and later became the first president.[16] By the end of the 1930s, LWS had more than twenty-five thousand participants in 14 cities.[21]

LWS boycotted Woolworths Five-and-Dime stores in 1936 since they sold products made in factories that were involved in labor strikes.[13] The group also produced a pamphlet that described the undesirable working conditions at the stores.[13] LWS participated in the National Pants Company strike in 1937.[22] They supported the workers' demands of improved wages and working conditions.[23] In 1938, LWS joined a strike where "fur workers" were picketing Russek's Department Store in New York City.[10][16] Also in 1938, LWS promoted a silk boycott campaign in order to boycott Japanese-produced silk.[24] Around 600 "society women" in Washington, D.C. attended a fashion show sponsored by LWS called "Life Without Silk: From Morning to Midnight in Cotton and Rayon."[25] Models showcased fashionable looks without using silk.[24] Silk was being boycotted because of the war between Japan and China, started in July 1937.[26] Public sentiment was on the side of China and boycotting Japan was an act of social justice against "Japanese Aggression."[27] LWS supported waitresses striking at the George Mason Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia in 1939.[10] At another strike to support mechanics, members of LWS showed up at the picket line in roller skates.[28] They used the skates to generate interest and publicity for the strikers.[28] Another campaign LWS was involved with was to change the unfair tax rules that governed margarine sales.[29] They also participated in the 1947 "Don't Buy Meat" week.[30]

Conservatives who opposed the 1935 National Labor Relations Act accused LWS of conspiring with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and later turned to accusing LWS of being a Communist front.[31] J.B. Matthews accused LWS of being a Communist organization in 1939.[32] Matthews' accusation was also borne out of personal resentment against LWS, which had supported a strike at the Consumers' Research (CR) group that Matthews led.[32] Representative Martin Dies worked with Matthews to charge LWS as an "Un-American" organization under the auspices of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).[32] Mary Catherine Phillips, who was also associated with CR, accused LWS of being "stooges" of the Communist Party in 1940.[33] These accusations happened in spite of the fact that LWS was always specific about wanting to create a "more inclusive democracy."[34]

During World War II, LWS was involved in various war efforts. The group helped women negotiate ways to help the war effort through rationing and price control.[35] They supported price control and encouraged members to get involved in the Office of Price Administration (OPA) panels and boards.[36] When the OPA was facing political opposition, LWS members worked to support the organization.[37]

However, after the war, conflict between the New York LWS and the Washington group increased.[36] As the Red Scare worsened, additional members quit the LWS.[34] In 1948, LWS appeared on the blacklist compiled by the Attorney General of "disloyal" organizations.[34] LWS no longer worked as an independent group by 1949 and merged with the Congress of American Women.[38] In 1950, the Congress of American Women dissolved.[38]

Selected publications edit

  • Filley, Jane; Mitchell, Therese (1937). Consider the Laundry Workers. New York: League of Woman Shoppers. OCLC 6255001.
  • The League of Women Shoppers Handbook. New York: League of Woman Shoppers. 1940. OCLC 54009736.
  • Women Do Ninety Percent of the Buying: Use Your Buying Power for Justice. New York: League of Woman Shoppers. 1940. OCLC 81619393.

Notable members edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Glickman 2009, p. 205.
  2. ^ a b c Glickman 2009, p. 206.
  3. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 208.
  4. ^ a b Glickman 2001, p. 113.
  5. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 208-209.
  6. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 230.
  7. ^ Cain 2019, p. 38.
  8. ^ Higgins 2016, p. 47.
  9. ^ "Capitol News". The Gazette and Daily. 1939-02-11. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b c Cain 2019, p. 46.
  11. ^ Higgins 2016, p. 49.
  12. ^ Welshimer, Helen (1937-07-06). "League of Women Shoppers Speak In Behalf of Laundry Workers". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c d Higgins 2016, p. 50.
  14. ^ "Women Shoppers Plan Brooklyn Unit". Times Union. 1936-04-26. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Advises on Peace". Evening Star. 1937-12-11. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Higgins 2016, p. 44.
  17. ^ "League of Women Shoppers Head is Here for Visit". The Minneapolis Star. 1947-01-24. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Podolefsky 2014, p. 877.
  19. ^ Higgins 2016, p. 45.
  20. ^ Cain 2019, p. 37.
  21. ^ Glickman 2001, p. 114.
  22. ^ Cain 2019, p. 35.
  23. ^ a b Cain 2019, p. 40.
  24. ^ a b Glickman 2009, p. 219.
  25. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 219-220.
  26. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 225.
  27. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 225, 227.
  28. ^ a b Cain 2019, p. 47.
  29. ^ "League of Women Shoppers Pleads for Untaxed Sale of Colored Oleo". Star Tribune. 1948-03-09. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Start Drive Against HCL". The Courier News. 1947-07-29. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Rogers-Cooper, Justin (2015). "Rethinking Cold War Culture: Gender, Domesticity, and Labor on the Global Home Front". International Labor and Working-Class History. 87: 235–249. doi:10.1017/S0147547915000010. ISSN 0147-5479.
  32. ^ a b c Jacobs 2005, p. 171.
  33. ^ Cain 2019, p. 47-48.
  34. ^ a b c Higgins 2016, p. 52.
  35. ^ "Women Shoppers League Will Aid Housewives". Star Tribune. 1943-01-24. p. 48. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ a b Cain 2019, p. 49.
  37. ^ "OPA Crooked? 'No,' Director Tells Woman Signer". The Miami News. 1946-04-25. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ a b Glickman 2009, p. 214.
  39. ^ Cain 2019, p. 43.
  40. ^ a b Cain 2019, p. 42.
  41. ^ Glickman 2009, p. 205-206.
  42. ^ a b "Women Shoppers Plan Public Forum on Friday at YWCA". The Minneapolis Star. 1941-12-09. p. 25. Retrieved 2020-11-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ Cain 2019, p. 41.

Sources edit

  • Cain, Ellen (2019). "'We Used To Be Patrons--Now We Are Pickets!': The League of Women Shoppers, the Picket Line, and Identity Formation, 1935-19149". Journal of Women's History. 31 (3): 35–56. doi:10.1353/jowh.2019.0026. S2CID 203465264 – via Project MUSE.
  • Glickman, Lawrence B. (2009). Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226298672 – via Internet Archive.
  • Glickman, Lawrence B. (June 2001). "The Strike in the Temple of Consumption: Consumer Activism and Twentieth-Century American Political Culture". The Journal of American History. 88 (1): 99–128. doi:10.2307/2674920. JSTOR 2674920.
  • Higgins, Kathy (Spring 2016). "Use Your Buying Power for Justice: the League of Women Shoppers and Innocuous Feminist Radicalism 1935-1948" (PDF). Chicago Journal of History (6): 44–53.
  • Jacobs, Meg (2005). Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691086648 – via Internet Archive.
  • Podolefsky, Ronnie L. (February 2014). "Illusion of Suffrage: Female Voting Rights and the Women's Poll Tax Repeal Movement After the Nineteenth Amendment". Notre Dame Law Review. 73 (3): 839–888.

External links edit

  • League of Women Shoppers records

May 02, 2024
league, women, shoppers, american, consumer, advocacy, group, that, also, participated, collective, actions, that, worked, towards, social, justice, workers, they, also, fought, against, racial, discrimination, kinds, founded, 1935, york, city, aline, davis, h. The League of Women Shoppers LWS was an American consumer advocacy group that also participated in collective actions that worked towards social justice for workers They also fought against racial discrimination of all kinds LWS was founded in 1935 in New York City and Aline Davis Hays served as the first president Chapters of LWS were formed in cities around the country Members of LWS were involved in different actions Some were involved in educating consumers on labor issues Others watched legislation and put out alerts for members to contact their representatives about the issues LWS members most of whom were middle class or upper class women participated in strikes and pickets and served as allies to working class women and African American workers Because of their collective action techniques and also because of animosity from members of another consumer group Consumers Research CR LWS was accused of Un American activities in the early 1940s They were blacklisted and members began to leave causing the group to dissolve in 1949 League of Women ShoppersAbbreviationLWSFormation1935Dissolved1949 Contents 1 About 2 History 3 Selected publications 4 Notable members 5 References 5 1 Sources 6 External linksAbout editThe League of Women Shoppers LWS was focused on using collective consumer power to reform the conditions of workers 1 LWS created buyers strikes which often led to boycotts and also raised awareness of various social issues 2 They also supported African American buyers campaigns such as Don t buy where you can t work 2 LWS saw consumable materials as social artifacts which could be judged on how they were produced and brought to the consumer 3 LWS promoted the idea that women could look into how goods were made who produced them and how these people were treated 4 A group of consumers mostly women could help bring more justice through thoughtful choices in shopping 5 LWS was strongly pro labor and was described by the president of the LWS Chicago chapter Jessie Lloyd O Connor as bringing consumers into understanding and sympathetic action with labor 6 LWS felt that working conditions were connected to an adverse outcome in the lives of workers especially for women workers 7 LWS also felt that consumers choices were responsible for the conditions of workers 8 To further their goals LWS would also work with other groups such as the Consumers League the Women s Trade Union League WTUL other trade unions Parent Teacher Associations PTA and church groups 9 The group emphasized the need for educating consumers on labor conditions and why it was important to support workers rights 10 They created pamphlets and newsletters to inform consumers 11 Consider the Laundry Worker 1937 was created to inform consumers about the working conditions of those who clean clothes for others 12 LWS informed members about legislative issues and called on members to mobilize and contact their representatives 13 They also provided other types of education that was beneficial to members who had not attended college 13 Speeches on various topics were parts of LWS meetings 14 15 Most members of the LWS were white women in the middle or upper classes 16 Working in LWS gave many of these women the feeling that they were doing something important 16 Generally the group were also white allies to African American consumer campaigns 16 They supported an end to racial discrimination and worked to end the poll tax 17 18 LWS was able to use their social and material privilege in life to support working class women 19 History edit nbsp Nina P Collier center Chair of the National League of Women Shoppers Legislative Committee testifies in Washington D C The League of Women Shoppers LWS was founded in 1935 in New York City 4 20 Aline Davis Hays hosted the first meeting in her apartment and later became the first president 16 By the end of the 1930s LWS had more than twenty five thousand participants in 14 cities 21 LWS boycotted Woolworths Five and Dime stores in 1936 since they sold products made in factories that were involved in labor strikes 13 The group also produced a pamphlet that described the undesirable working conditions at the stores 13 LWS participated in the National Pants Company strike in 1937 22 They supported the workers demands of improved wages and working conditions 23 In 1938 LWS joined a strike where fur workers were picketing Russek s Department Store in New York City 10 16 Also in 1938 LWS promoted a silk boycott campaign in order to boycott Japanese produced silk 24 Around 600 society women in Washington D C attended a fashion show sponsored by LWS called Life Without Silk From Morning to Midnight in Cotton and Rayon 25 Models showcased fashionable looks without using silk 24 Silk was being boycotted because of the war between Japan and China started in July 1937 26 Public sentiment was on the side of China and boycotting Japan was an act of social justice against Japanese Aggression 27 LWS supported waitresses striking at the George Mason Hotel in Alexandria Virginia in 1939 10 At another strike to support mechanics members of LWS showed up at the picket line in roller skates 28 They used the skates to generate interest and publicity for the strikers 28 Another campaign LWS was involved with was to change the unfair tax rules that governed margarine sales 29 They also participated in the 1947 Don t Buy Meat week 30 Conservatives who opposed the 1935 National Labor Relations Act accused LWS of conspiring with the National Labor Relations Board NLRB and later turned to accusing LWS of being a Communist front 31 J B Matthews accused LWS of being a Communist organization in 1939 32 Matthews accusation was also borne out of personal resentment against LWS which had supported a strike at the Consumers Research CR group that Matthews led 32 Representative Martin Dies worked with Matthews to charge LWS as an Un American organization under the auspices of the House Un American Activities Committee HUAC 32 Mary Catherine Phillips who was also associated with CR accused LWS of being stooges of the Communist Party in 1940 33 These accusations happened in spite of the fact that LWS was always specific about wanting to create a more inclusive democracy 34 During World War II LWS was involved in various war efforts The group helped women negotiate ways to help the war effort through rationing and price control 35 They supported price control and encouraged members to get involved in the Office of Price Administration OPA panels and boards 36 When the OPA was facing political opposition LWS members worked to support the organization 37 However after the war conflict between the New York LWS and the Washington group increased 36 As the Red Scare worsened additional members quit the LWS 34 In 1948 LWS appeared on the blacklist compiled by the Attorney General of disloyal organizations 34 LWS no longer worked as an independent group by 1949 and merged with the Congress of American Women 38 In 1950 the Congress of American Women dissolved 38 Selected publications editFilley Jane Mitchell Therese 1937 Consider the Laundry Workers New York League of Woman Shoppers OCLC 6255001 The League of Women Shoppers Handbook New York League of Woman Shoppers 1940 OCLC 54009736 Women Do Ninety Percent of the Buying Use Your Buying Power for Justice New York League of Woman Shoppers 1940 OCLC 81619393 Notable members editMargaret Bourke White 1 Elizabeth Wheeler Coleman 39 Nina Perera Collier 40 Lucille Ezekiel 23 Aline Davis Hays 16 Lillian Hellman 1 Jessie Lloyd O Connor 41 Dorothy Parker 42 Cornelia Bryce Pinchot 43 Gale Sondergaard 42 Mary Heaton Vorse 2 Amber Arthun Warburton 40 References edit a b c Glickman 2009 p 205 a b c Glickman 2009 p 206 Glickman 2009 p 208 a b Glickman 2001 p 113 Glickman 2009 p 208 209 Glickman 2009 p 230 Cain 2019 p 38 Higgins 2016 p 47 Capitol News The Gazette and Daily 1939 02 11 p 6 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com a b c Cain 2019 p 46 Higgins 2016 p 49 Welshimer Helen 1937 07 06 League of Women Shoppers Speak In Behalf of Laundry Workers Wilkes Barre Times Leader The Evening News p 19 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com a b c d Higgins 2016 p 50 Women Shoppers Plan Brooklyn Unit Times Union 1936 04 26 p 4 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com Advises on Peace Evening Star 1937 12 11 p 14 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com a b c d e f Higgins 2016 p 44 League of Women Shoppers Head is Here for Visit The Minneapolis Star 1947 01 24 p 21 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com Podolefsky 2014 p 877 Higgins 2016 p 45 Cain 2019 p 37 Glickman 2001 p 114 Cain 2019 p 35 a b Cain 2019 p 40 a b Glickman 2009 p 219 Glickman 2009 p 219 220 Glickman 2009 p 225 Glickman 2009 p 225 227 a b Cain 2019 p 47 League of Women Shoppers Pleads for Untaxed Sale of Colored Oleo Star Tribune 1948 03 09 p 8 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com Start Drive Against HCL The Courier News 1947 07 29 p 8 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com Rogers Cooper Justin 2015 Rethinking Cold War Culture Gender Domesticity and Labor on the Global Home Front International Labor and Working Class History 87 235 249 doi 10 1017 S0147547915000010 ISSN 0147 5479 a b c Jacobs 2005 p 171 Cain 2019 p 47 48 a b c Higgins 2016 p 52 Women Shoppers League Will Aid Housewives Star Tribune 1943 01 24 p 48 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com a b Cain 2019 p 49 OPA Crooked No Director Tells Woman Signer The Miami News 1946 04 25 p 20 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com a b Glickman 2009 p 214 Cain 2019 p 43 a b Cain 2019 p 42 Glickman 2009 p 205 206 a b Women Shoppers Plan Public Forum on Friday at YWCA The Minneapolis Star 1941 12 09 p 25 Retrieved 2020 11 18 via Newspapers com Cain 2019 p 41 Sources edit Cain Ellen 2019 We Used To Be Patrons Now We Are Pickets The League of Women Shoppers the Picket Line and Identity Formation 1935 19149 Journal of Women s History 31 3 35 56 doi 10 1353 jowh 2019 0026 S2CID 203465264 via Project MUSE Glickman Lawrence B 2009 Buying Power A History of Consumer Activism in America Chicago University of Chicago Press ISBN 9780226298672 via Internet Archive Glickman Lawrence B June 2001 The Strike in the Temple of Consumption Consumer Activism and Twentieth Century American Political Culture The Journal of American History 88 1 99 128 doi 10 2307 2674920 JSTOR 2674920 Higgins Kathy Spring 2016 Use Your Buying Power for Justice the League of Women Shoppers and Innocuous Feminist Radicalism 1935 1948 PDF Chicago Journal of History 6 44 53 Jacobs Meg 2005 Pocketbook Politics Economic Citizenship in Twentieth Century America Princeton Princeton University Press ISBN 0691086648 via Internet Archive Podolefsky Ronnie L February 2014 Illusion of Suffrage Female Voting Rights and the Women s Poll Tax Repeal Movement After the Nineteenth Amendment Notre Dame Law Review 73 3 839 888 External links editLeague of Women Shoppers records Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title League of Women Shoppers amp oldid 1190050002, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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