Wagon Decorated for the Labor Day Parade, San Diego, California, 1910
As the woman suffrage movement grew stronger in the years before and during World War I, working-class women played increasingly prominent and visible roles in its leadership. This Labor Day parade float, created by the Women’s Union Label League of San Diego, showed that activists championed equal pay for women in the workplace as well as women’s voting rights. “Union Label Leagues” urged middle-class shoppers to purchase only clothing with a union label, certifying that the item had been manufactured under safe conditions and the workers who made it had received a fair wage. San Diego Historical Society, Title Insurance Trust Collection.