Helena Dudley was an American social worker, labor organizer, and pacifist.
15 Facts About Helena Dudley
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Helena Dudley helped organize the Women's Trade Union League in 1903, and supported the Bread and Roses strike in 1912.
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Helena Dudley's father was one of the original settlers of Denver, Colorado, and made a fortune in silver mining and real estate.
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When Emily Greene Balch resigned as head of Denison House in 1893, Helena Dudley moved to Boston to replace her.
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Helena Dudley served as head worker, or director in residence, at Denison House from 1893 to 1912.
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The Wells Memorial Institute provided the workrooms rent-free, and Helena Dudley raised funds for materials and other expenses.
7.
Increasingly, Helena Dudley came to believe that settlements, useful as they were to the community, could not provide what working people needed most: a living wage.
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Helena Dudley was no doubt influenced by Mary Kenney O'Sullivan and her husband, both labor activists, who lived at Denison House in the 1890s.
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Helena Dudley joined the union and served as its delegate to the Boston Central Labor Union for several years.
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O'Sullivan became secretary of the organization, and Helena Dudley served for a time as vice president of its Boston branch.
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When Helena Dudley retired in 1912, Warren built her a house at her family estate, Cedar Hill.
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Helena Dudley lived at Cedar Hill until Warren died in 1921.
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Helena Dudley joined the board of the Massachusetts branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and remained involved with that organization for the rest of her life.
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Shortly afterwards, while visiting friends in Geneva, Switzerland, Helena Dudley was taken ill and died at the age of 74.
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Helena Dudley is remembered in connection with Denison House on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.