Happy 162nd birthday to Mary! Born Mary Kenney on January 8, 1864 in Hannibal, Missouri, this daughter of Irish immigrants went on to organize factory workers, demand women’s rights in the workplace and the voting booth, co-found the Women’s Trade Union League, and hold industries accountable as a factory inspector.
Mary is one of my personal heroes for her courage, humor, strength, and perseverance. She made friends with the movers and shakers in the Progressive and Peace movements of her day and she never stopped fighting to protect worker rights, women’s rights, human rights.
I’m posing with a bronze bust of Mary that is part of the multimedia installation HEAR US: Massachusetts Women’s Leadership Memorial at the Massachusetts State House. The words above her portrait are a direct quote from her unpublished autobiography.
Happy birthday, Mary Kenney O’Sullivan!
My heroines - amazing women in history 