Mary Macaulay
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Mary Macaulay (January 27, 1865 – July 19, 1944) was a
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
operator and labor union official who became International Vice President of the
Commercial Telegraphers Union of America The Commercial Telegraphers Union of America (CTUA) was a United States labor union formed to promote the interests of commercial telegraph operators. Background and early history The first practical telegraph system in the United States was put ...
(CTUA) in 1919. She was the first woman telegrapher to hold a national elective office in a union.


Involvement with telegraphers' unions and the suffrage movement

In about 1880, she began work as a commercial operator for
Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...
. She joined the telegraphers' union, the Brotherhood of Telegraphers, which was affiliated with the
Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...
. She joined in their strike against Western Union in 1883. When the strike ended unsuccessfully, she left Western Union and began work as a press operator in
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, where she sent and received press dispatches. This was the beginning of a long career as a press telegrapher; she subsequently operated for the ''Rochester Post Express'' in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, the Consolidated wire at the ''
Buffalo Evening News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, the ...
'' in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, and for the
United Press Association United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
in the offices of the ''Lockport Union Sun'' in
Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, United States. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census figures, and an estimated population of 20,305 as of 20 ...
. While in Lockport, she was elected vice president of Local 41 of the CTUA. Macaulay was an early supporter of the
women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
; during her employment in Rochester, she also served as secretary to Susan B. Anthony.


1919 strike and election as international vice president

In June 1919, the CTUA went on strike against Western Union after the telegraph company discharged several telegraphers for belonging to the union. However, the strike was unsuccessful; after the union's president, S. J. Konenkamp, resigned, a new slate of officers was elected, including Mary Macaulay, who became International Vice President. One of her first actions was to set up a defense fund for strikers who had been arrested in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In the following year, federal charges against the strikers were dropped. She served as International Vice President until 1921.Jepsen, Thomas C., ''My Sisters Telegraphic: Women in the Telegraph Office'', 2000, Ohio University Press, pp. 182-3.


Later life and retirement

In 1927, she retired from her work as press telegrapher for the ''Lockport Union Sun'' and returned to LeRoy, New York. She was an active member of Saint Peter's Catholic Church in that city, and left her entire estate to the church in her will. Macaulay died on July 19, 1944, at the age of 79.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Mary Telegraphists American trade union leaders 1865 births 1944 deaths Western Union people