Description
Frances Noel was born in Saxony, near the Bohemian border in 1873. She left home to travel the world in 1893 but finally settled
in Los Angeles after marrying Primrose D. Noel in 1904. She played a very active role in the labor and women's movements in
Los Angeles, California. The collection consists of correspondence, organizational materials, papers, pamphlets, clippings,
and printed material reflecting her participation in causes for organized labor, birth control, women's suffrage, and environmental
conservation. Significant correspondents include Alice Stone Blackwell, Carrie Chapman Catt, Samuel Gompers, Charlotte Perkins
Gilman, Katherine Philips Edson, John Francis Neylan, and Margaret Sanger.
Background
Frances Noel was born in Saxony, near the Bohemian border, 1873; left home to travel the world, 1893; married Primrose D.
Noel and settled in Los Angeles, 1904; vice president, Women's Union Label League, California, 1910, and president, 1914;
president, Wage Earner's Suffrage League, 1911; struggled to establish recreational camp for working women, Camp Aliso, 1918;
chaired the Conference of Union Women of Southern California, 1921; established Women's Annex, Los Angeles Labor Union Temple,
1922; president, Los Angeles Chapter of the American Birth Control League, 1926; appointed to Executive Board of the Central
Labor Council in California, fighting for minimum wage laws and eight hour working days; fought to preserve the Arroyo Seco
area in Pasadena, California, 1920s; fought for public transportation improvements; date and circumstances of death unknown.At an early age, Frances Noel expressed the independent nature and pioneering spirit which were to characterize her struggles
and lead to her achievements for the causes of labor and women's rights. Born in Saxony, near the Bohemian border in 1873,
she left home at age 20 to see the world. Working variously as a governess, kindergarten teacher and waitress, she travelled
to New York, Chicago and Denver where the early fight for woman suffrage in Colorado left a strong impression upon her. Travels
also took her to California where, deeply interested in the principles of socialism, she attended meetings of the Socialist
Party in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the late 1890s. During several subsequent trips back to the eastern United States
and Europe, she continued to make important contacts with other socialist groups and leaders.
Restrictions
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold
the copyright.