Leonora Kearney Barry

Friday, January 01, 1886

Leonora Kearney Barry was born in Ireland in 1849 and immigrated to the United States in 1852. Kearney was a labor organizer and women's rights activist who documented labor conditions and the exploitation of women workers in factories. Kearney advocated for equal pay for equal work and protections against sexual harassment. In 1886, Kearney was elected as the General Investigator of Women’s Work within the Knights of Labor. She was the first and only woman to hold national office within the Knights of Labor.