Frances Nacke Noel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frances Nacke Noel
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Frances Nacke
January 5, 1873 Saxony, Germany
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| Died | April 24, 1963 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | German-American |
| Occupation | Labor Activist, Suffragist |
| Spouse(s) | Primrose Noel |
Frances Nacke Noel (January 5, 1873 – April 24, 1963) was a strong leader for women's rights and workers' rights. People called her "the most eloquent female orator of Southern California" in the early 1900s. She was a key figure in the fight for women's right to vote (suffrage) and for better working conditions in Los Angeles.
Frances was one of the first to connect the women's right to vote movement with the labor movement. She believed that helping workers and helping women gain rights went hand-in-hand. Her speeches and organizing helped women in Los Angeles get the right to vote. She also worked to bring different groups of people together in the labor movement.
Contents
Early Life and Inspiration
Frances Nacke was born on January 5, 1873, in Saxony, Germany. She was the oldest of six children. Her family lived above a furniture factory where her father was in charge. From a young age, Frances helped care for her siblings and started working at age 12.
At 20, she moved from Germany to New York City. Later, she moved to Chicago, where she learned about new political ideas like socialism. In 1895, she moved to Denver, where she met others who cared about social issues and fairness for different groups of people.
Joining the Socialist Movement
In 1896, Frances joined the Socialist Labor party. She even ran for a local government position in Denver, but she didn't win.
A special event made Frances passionate about women's rights and the right to vote. Soon after arriving in Denver, she was ready to vote for the first time. Her boss, who was a former senator's wife, gave out ballots that were already filled in. When Frances asked why, her boss said young women weren't smart enough to vote. This made Frances very angry, and from that day on, she fought for women's right to vote her whole life.
Later that year, Frances moved to Los Angeles and joined the socialist movement there.
Leading the Fight for Workers' Rights
Once Frances became involved in the Los Angeles labor movement, she took on many important leadership roles. She was the first chairperson of the Los Angeles Women's Trade Union League. She also represented workers as a delegate to the Los Angeles Central Labor Council and served as a California Social Insurance Commissioner. In 1911, she helped create a women's group for the California Federation of Labor.
Bringing Women Together for Suffrage
In 1911, Frances, as part of The Votes for Women Club, encouraged working women to join the fight for the right to vote. She reached out to laundry workers, garment workers, waitresses, and saleswomen. She successfully brought together women from wealthy clubs and women who earned wages. This was an unusual but powerful team-up!
Thanks to these efforts, later in 1911, male voters in California approved full women's suffrage. This meant women could now vote!
Advocating for Working Women
In the same year, Frances pushed for socialist women to be included in socialist labor groups, which often only had men. She called for laws that would protect women who earned wages. She also pointed out that the California State Federation of Labor wasn't doing enough to include women workers. She stressed how important it was for men and women to work together.
Her hard work paid off on April 15, 1911. The Central Labor Council held a parade in downtown Los Angeles to support an eight-hour workday law for both men and women. Even though the law passed, Frances felt it wasn't perfect because it didn't include a set minimum wage for women.
Fighting for Fair Wages
In April 1913, Frances helped start the Women's Wage League. Although the League's first plans didn't fully work out, the city council did follow its ideas. They created a committee with four men and two women, including Frances Nacke, to figure out a fair living wage for the city. This study eventually led to the governor signing a minimum-wage bill into law in 1913.
In 1914, Frances helped organize a local branch of the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) in Los Angeles. At first, not many women joined. But in early 1915, educational meetings about unemployment attracted more women to the group. After these meetings, with help from the Central Labor Council, a committee was formed to deal with unemployment in Los Angeles. Later that year, she continued to push for different social classes to work together. She argued for female trade unions to join the California Federation of Women's Clubs.
Camp Aliso: A Special Place for Working Women
One of Frances Nacke's most creative ideas for the Los Angeles labor movement was Camp Aliso. This was a fun camp for working women. It was designed to offer "healthy recreation." It aimed to bring together both clubwomen and wage-earning women from the local Women's Trade Union League. The camp offered a cheap and easy vacation for working women to escape the hard work of their homes and jobs.
Later Years and Family Life
By 1916, Frances Nacke's direct involvement in bringing different classes and genders together started to slow down. Instead, she focused on organizing and strengthening the female presence in the labor movement. In the 1920s, she was the first chairperson of the Women's Central Committee. She worked to organize women who earned wages and the wives of union men, seeing them as important consumers in union households. Frances believed that by choosing to buy only from unionized businesses, women could show their power.
In the late 1910s, Frances founded several groups to unite working women. These included the Conference of Union Women of Southern California, a Women's Annex to the Labor Temple, and a Women's Committee within the Los Angeles Labor Council.
Personal Life
Frances Nacke married Primrose Noel, who was also a socialist and a banker, early in her time in Los Angeles. They had one son named Francis. Frances's work in the labor movement became less direct in the 1940s and 1950s, mainly because Primrose's health was failing. While caring for her husband, Frances remained a lifelong supporter of the Los Angeles Labor movement. Frances Noel passed away on April 24, 1963.
