Saidie Patterson

Saidie Patterson MBE (1904-1985), was a workers rights and peace activist in Northern Ireland.

Saidie Patterson
Born
Sarah Patterson

1904
Belfast
Died1985
Belfast

Biography

Saidie Patterson was born Sarah Patterson in 5 November 1904 in Belfast. Her parents were William Patterson, a blacksmith, and Sarah, née McKinley Moore. Her father died in 1907 leaving her mother with three young children. She began working aged 14 for Ewarts mills, Crumlin Road in north Belfast. She later got involved in workers rights and unionism and by 1940, she led the call for the unionisation of the Ewarts workforce and led 2,000 women on strike for seven weeks. As a result of the strike, they achieved better pay and sick leave and holiday pay. Patterson began working full time for the Transport and General Workers' Union, where she had a special responsibility for women, a position she held for twenty years. She was also an active member of the Girls Club Union for fifty years. In the 1945 election campaign, She worked for the Northern Ireland Labour Party. In 1953, she was awarded an MBE. From 1973, Patterson went on to get involved in peace marches. She was a founder of Women Together and then People Together and the evolution into the Peace People and she led women in marches. In 1977 she became the first recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award. In total, Patterson received five international peace awards.[1][2] David Bleakley wrote a biography of her life Saidie Patterson, Irish peacemaker in 1980. Patterson died in 1985.[3] She is commemorated with a plaque on the Shankill Road Methodist Church in Belfast.[1][4][5][6][7]

References and sources
  1. "Plaque honour for Belfast peace activist Saidie Patterson". belfasttelegraph. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  2. Jess, Mervyn (2018-03-09). "'Shankill Saidie' earns Blue Plaque". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  3. Bleakley, D. (1980). Saidie Patterson, Irish peacemaker (in German). Blackstaff Press. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  4. McGonagle, Suzanne (2018-03-09). "Blue plaque unveiled to Belfast peace activist Saidie Patterson on International Woman's Day". The Irish News. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  5. Newmann, Kate -. "The Dictionary of Ulster Biography". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  6. "Herstory: Saidie Patterson". RTE.ie. 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  7. "Saidie Patterson". A Century Of Women. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
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