Aurélia Benoît Lebeau
Passionate about making sure that she and fellow factory workers were compensated fairly, Aurélia Lebeau (1874-1955) became one of the first female textile union leaders in New England.
Alberta Simmons Brownell
Alberta Simmons Brownell (1882-1918) used book knowledge and personal experience to write articles on the social problems of the day.
Eulalia Mendes
When 20,000 textile workers went on strike in the 1928 New Bedford Textile Workers Strike, 18-year-old factory worker Eulalia Mendes (1910-2004) became a leader in her mill and community by promoting Portuguese industrial migrant worker participation in the strike.
Clementina “Tina” Ponte
Union leader. Political activist. University trustee. In these roles, Clementina “Tina” Rodrigues Ponte (1922-2013) worked to make the South Coast a better place.
Dora Bastarache
A stitcher in various New Bedford shops, Dora Bastarache (1915-1988) was a true rank-and-file leader in the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in southeastern Massachusetts, where she served as president of that union’s Local 361.
Nora Ouimette Duprey
When Nora Ouimette (1909-1987) was born in New Bedford, women could not vote! By the time of her death, she had voted in every election she was eligible for, become a labor union organizer, run for Congress and become one of the first female industrial engineers in companies on both the East and West Coasts.
Margaret Ryckebusch
Educator and labor leader Margaret A. Duggan Ryckebusch (1940-1998) was a professor, department head, and union leader at Bristol Community College.
Marie Equi
New Bedford prepared physician and political agitator Marie Equi (1872-1952) for a lifetime of
social justice advocacy. Marie’s Oregon medical practice and nationwide activism were
influenced by her working class experiences while growing up in New Bedford.