Emma Paterson was a pioneer of trade unionism for women. In her short life, she set up a League dedicated to that cause, edited a newspaper to publicise it and travelled the UK working for it. Her spoken and written work addressed issues still with us today, from the gender pay gap to domestic labour, and those thankfully consigned to history, such as whether women should be able to vote or find clothes appropriate to industrial work.

Emma Paterson, Trade Unionist and Feminist, In Her Own Words brings together the major works that comprise Emma Paterson’s written output, offering a unique insight into the struggles and concerns of women working in the workshops, factories, shops and homes of Britain’s Industrial Revolution. This book includes a long biographical chapter from the editor, a preface from Frances O’Grady, first woman general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, and then an annotated selection of Emma Paterson’s most important works, from her time as a young activist to her last days as an overworked editor and union leader.

This book will appeal to scholars and students of the history of Britain, of its women workers, of industrial, labour and publishing history. It addresses broader questions of class and gender, the interconnections that exist between them and the silences that often accompany them.