Maud Malone

Maud Malone (1873 – 1951), also seen as Maude Malone, was an American librarian and "militant suffragette"[1] based in New York. She was also a spokesperson for the Library Employees' Union, the first labor union for public library workers in the United States.

Maud Malone
Born1873 (1873)
New York City
Died1951 (aged 77–78)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationLibrarian

Early life

Maud Malone was born in New York City, to Irish immigrant parents, Annie Malone and Edward Malone. Her father was a doctor, her uncle Sylvester Malone was a priest, and both men were among the founders of the New York Anti-Poverty Society.[2] Her sister Marcella Malone and her brothers Lawrence and Sylvester Malone all became lawyers.[3]

Career

Malone was active as a suffragist in New York City. She was president of the Harlem Equal Rights League when she organized an outdoor suffrage meeting in 1908. "It was in the broadest spirit of democracy that we went out into the streets inviting all passersby to listen to listen to our arguments and offer their objections or ask questions," Malone wrote of the event.[4] In March 1908, she quit the Progressive Woman's Union in protest against their concerns for attracting a "well-dressed crowd".[5] In 1909, she wore a large yellow sign advocating suffrage, on a solo march from Cooper Union, up Broadway, and along Fifth Avenue.[6]

One of her visible acts of protest was as "heckler",[7] especially at presidential candidate speeches in 1912, when she was known to shout "What about woman suffrage?" from the audience.[8] She was often ejected for this act, fined,[9] and at least once convicted of creating a disturbance at a public meeting, and given a suspended sentence.[10][11] In 1917 she picketed the White House as part of the Silent Sentinels in a campaign to get the Democratic Party to endorse women's suffrage. She was arrested and sentenced to 60 days at the Occoquan Workhouse, where she was among the eleven women who unsuccessfully requested political prisoner status.[12][13]

Maud Malone worked for the New York Public Library and was a founding member of the Library Employees' Union in 1917.[14] She was the organization's spokesperson; her sister Marcella Malone served a term as the union's president. After many years of outspoken union activity,[15] she was dismissed from her job at the New York Public Library in 1932.[16] Later in life she worked as librarian for the newspaper The Daily Worker.[17]

Personal life

Maud Malone died in 1951, aged 78 years.[17]

References
  1. "A Militant Suffragette" Altoona Tribune (March 12, 1910): 8. via Newspapers.comopen access
  2. "Praise for Dr. Malone" The World (October 6, 1890): 3. via Newspapers.comopen access
  3. "From the Eastern District; Father Malone Makes His Niece a Bachelor of Laws" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (June 3, 1896): 4. via Newspapers.comopen access
  4. Linda J. Lumsden, Rampant Women: Suffragists and the Right of Assembly (University of Tennessee Press 1997): 28-33, 45-46. ISBN 9781572331631
  5. "Miss Malone Quits the Suffragettes" New York Times (March 27, 1908): 4.
  6. "Saffron Parade of One" New York Times (February 13, 1909): 6. via Newspapers.comopen access
  7. "Lone Suffragette Upsets Fusion Rally" New York Times (October 9, 1909): 1.
  8. "Maud Malone Stops Roosevelt" New York Times (March 26, 1912): 1.
  9. "Maud Malone Asks in Vain to be Fined" New York Times (November 13, 1912): 24.
  10. "Maud Malone Held; Court Rebukes Her" New York Times (October 24, 1912): 11.
  11. "The Case of Maud Malone" New York Times (October 25, 1912): 12.
  12. Shanley, Catherine (1995). "The Library Employees' Union of Greater New York, 1917-1929". Libraries & Culture. 30 (3): 238. ISSN 0894-8631. JSTOR 25542770.
  13. Meharg, Dan. "Maud Malone: Epilogue and Legacy". National Park Service. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  14. Clare Beck, The New Woman as Librarian: The Career of Adelaide Hasse (Scarecrow Press 2006): 219-220. ISBN 9781461673347
  15. "Banquet Ends Library Sessions; Miss Maude Malone Precipitates Another Lively Wage Dispute" Asbury Park Press (June 28, 1919): 2. via Newspapers.comopen access
  16. Catherine Shanley, "The Library Employees' Union of Greater New York, 1917-1929" Libraries & Culture 30(3)(Summer 1995): 235-264.
  17. Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, American Women Activists' Writings: An Anthology, 1637-2001 (Cooper Square Press 2002): 296. ISBN 9781461698746

Media related to Maud Malone at Wikimedia Commons

Maud Malone at women's suffrage meeting, May 1914
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