[1][2] The organisation originated as the Women's Trade Union Association, founded by Clementina Black in the East End of London in 1889.
[1] Under the new leadership of Catherine Webb, this new mission proved more successful, with more than one hundred trades investigated.
Hicks and James objected to the research focus and finally left in 1908, but many other women, later to become prominent, became involved.
[1] Archive material from 1895 to 1910 is held at the British Library of Political and Economic Science.
[4] Other material from 1907 to 1909 is held in the Trades Union Congress (TUC) Library Collection at London Metropolitan University.