The Mink Brigade

Marching alongside the activists in their demand for labor reform and helping to finance their efforts were a group of extraordinary wealthy ladies dubbed the “mink brigade.” These were the wives and daughters of the city’s richest men, women who used their bank accounts to stir up social change rather than entertain at society balls.

Two well-known members of the so-called “mink brigade” were Anne Morgan daughter of financier J.P. Morgan, and society queen bee Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, a prominent supporter of the suffragette movement. Morgan and Belmont were serious about the causes they espoused and used their contacts to raise money.

In their support for labor reform, they paid the fines for strikers, joining them at the picket line. Their presence curbed the police brutality the strikers had previously encountered.