Dates

• Existence: 1880 - 1921

Biography

Mary Macarthur (1880-1921) was a trade unionist and Labour activist. Although born in Glasgow, Mary moved with the Macarthur family to Ayr in 1895. It was here that she first became involved in the trade union movement. She joined the Shop Assistants' Union (SAU) in 1901 and would become Secretary of the Ayr branch, a member of the National Executive, and later President of the Scottish National District. In 1903 she became Secretary of the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) and moved to London to take up the position. She campaigned vigorously for the rights of working women throughout her career, attending the International Congress of Women in Berlin and America in 1904 and 1908. In 1906 she became Secretary of the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW); in 1907 she founded the Women Worker newspaper; she became a member of the War Emergency Workers National Committee and an honorary secretary of the Wartime Central Committee of Women's Training and Employment. Macarthur was also a member of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and a member of its National Council between 1909-1912. She stood unsuccessfully for election as a parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge, Worcestershire in 1918. She was elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ILP between 1919-1920, and would remain active in the movement until her death in 1921. [Source: The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, 2006]

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