Myrtle Cain

Myrtle Agnes Cain (April 11, 1894 – February 6, 1980) was an American politician and labor activist. She served as president of the Women's Trade Union of Minneapolis and was a member of the Minnesota Farmer Labor Party. In 1923 and 1924, Cain served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Governor Wendell Anderson named February 15, 1973 "Myrtle Cain Day." She is one of 25 women recognized on the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Memorial in Saint Paul.

Early life Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Irish immigrant parents, Cain went to public schools in the city and to St. Anthony's Convent. Her father was a boilermaker who was active in the Railroad Brotherhood union.

Career

Union work Cain led a strike with the Telephone Operators Union in 1918. She quickly became a leader of the Women's Trade Union League of Minneapolis, and worked in women's outreach with the American Federation of Labor. ). This ended up being the first of fifteen similar bills to be passed in the United States. She also authored a bill titled “Granting Equal Rights, Privileges, and Immunities to Both Sexes,” the first bill to demand equal rights for Minnesota women, which did not pass.

Post-electoral career and activism Cain moved to Washington, D.C., to lobby for women's rights, living at the National Woman's Party headquarters. She also spent time in New York City where she coordinated programming for the American Women's Association.