Younger took up the cause of working women . She took several waitressing jobs to investigate working conditions in restaurants , and joined the New York Waitresses ' Union . She was referred to as '' the millionaire waitress . " After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake , Younger went back to her hometown to pursue further work in labor organizing . She worked as a waitress to qualify for union membership , then organized the city 's first Waitresses ' Union . She was president of Waitresses ' Union Local 48 , and served as their delegate to the San Francisco Central Labor Council . Younger also helped found the San Francisco Wage Earners ' Suffrage League ( WESL ) in 1908 , to ensure that the concerns of working women were not forgotten in pursuit of the vote . After California women won suffrage in 1911 , Younger and the WESL worked for the eight-hour workday for women . Younger funded many of the legal aspects of this work , and was an impressive public face of the movement as well . At the 1911 Labor Day parade in San Francisco , she drove the WESL float , a wagon pulled by six white horses
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Maud Younger