Lady Barbers Union Local 1

In 1918, 55 women barbers in Seattle organized to form a union. The International Journeymen Barbers’ Union and the American Federation of Labor rejected earlier requests for a charter, refusing on the basis of gender. The Seattle Central Labor Council, with the support of the council’s Woman Organizer Blanche Johnson and members of the Seattle Union Card and Label League, granted the women barbers a charter directly. The Union Label League urged union members and their families to patronize union businesses, so female barbers had an additional incentive to unionize and gain a union shop card.

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Letter from the Seattle Central Labor Council to the Pierce County Labor Council about lady barbers in Seattle and Tacoma, January 14, 1919.
Pierce County Central Labor Council records. Accession no. 2882-001, Box 4/3.  Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Photograph of women barbers in a Seattle barber shop, approximately 1918.
Social Issues Subject Files. PH Coll 1293, Box 1. University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Letter from the Seattle Central Labor Council to the Pierce County Labor Council about lady barbers in Seattle and Tacoma, January 14, 1919.
Pierce County Central Labor Council records. Accession no. 2882-001, Box 4/3.  Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.