factors contributing to their entry into public life. Leonora O'Reilly's Cause Leonora O’Reilly’s experience growing up working-class allowed her to identify with the labor movement, which she saw as crucial for defending people, particularly women of her class. As a third-generation working woman, O’Reilly justified her right to speak for women in the labor force because of the cumulative experiences of a working mother and grandmother. In addition to focusing on women’s place in society, O’Reilly advocated for changes that would allow women from unskilled to more skilled positions. She argued industrial education was crucial for the liberation of working women, and trade schools for girls in the absence of apprenticeships available to boys. She was convinced wage equality would be possible when women became skilled workers. Therefore, O’Reilly saw women’s suffrage as a route to equal political rights and ultimately wage equality. It is notable that during the Irish Rebellion, O’Reilly devoted her attention to support of Irish nationalism to international labor issues. Career and political activism O'Reilly began working in a factory at age 11 as the assistant to a seamstress in New York. in 1881, at the age of eleven, Leonora was forced to give up school to work in a New York collar factory, earning $1 per dozen finished collars. When the pay dropped to 50 cents three years later, O’Reilly joined the knights of labor and participated in her first strike. Leonora O’Reilly early in her life became engaged with the labor reform and women’s suffrage movements and at 16 she joined the Knights of Labor with her mother, Winifred O'Reilly, who soon followed her daughter's lead. Leonora belonged to many organizations composed of both working class and elite men and women. Mentors helped further her education. After attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, O'Reilly and her mother became residents at the Asacog House, a settlement house in Brooklyn. She also taught at the Manhattan Trade School. After being formally introduced to labor rights efforts, in 1886 O'Reilly formed the cross-class Working Women’s Society. O’Reilly assembled a group of fellow collar makers to discuss their injustices and explore possible solutions. Together with other women activists, Leonora solidified the group and held discussions on how to build unionism among the exploited workingwomen in New York City. The group was soon composed of shop women and factory operatives, including Alice L. Woodbridge and Ida Van Etten. Together