M V Van Etten (3 results)

Hardcover, 352 pagina's, NL, 235 x 155 mm, in prima staat, met tal van illustraties, in kleur / z/w. ISBN 9789463103343. 0 g.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 352p. Dutch.

First edition of Van Etten's address, one of the first serious attempts to secure safe conditions and better working hours for women in the underground garment industry; one of two 1891 printings. Van Etten (1872-1930), a scion of one of New York's oldest families, served as secretary of the Working Women's Society in New York and was an influential writer and speaker on women in industry. She was one of two women speakers at the AFL's convention in 1890, the other being Eva McDonald Valesh. In her address, Van Etten analysed the growth of female employment and the exploitative working conditions under which they worked. The union movement was frequently hostile to female employees, employers often replacing union men with lower salaried women, and so Van Etten's address also sought to convince her audience of union men that the enhancement of pay and conditions for female employees was in their best interests. The other 1891 printing was published in New York by Concord Cooperative Print; no priority has been established. The copyright for both printings was owned by Samuel Gompers (1850-1924), the founder of the AFL. WorldCat and Library Hub suggest that Van Etten's address (in either printing) is relatively common in American institutions but scarcer elsewhere. Only nine institutions outside the US are recorded as having copies (three in Australia, two in Canada and the same in the UK, and one apiece in Germany and the Netherlands). Octavo, 16 pp. Disbound. Final page evenly toned barring lighter rectangular outline to lower half, overall fine.…