Emma Rother was born on 3 January 1857 in Glatz, Lower Silesia, the daughter of a shoemaker.
On 26 February 1885, Emma Ihrer, Marie Hofmann, Pauline Staegemann and Gertrude Guillaume-Schack founded the Verein zur Wahrung der Interessen der Arbeiterinnen ("Society for the Protection of Women Workers' Interests").