Women's Printing Society
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The Women's Printing Society was a British publishing house founded in either 1874[1][2] or 1876[3][4][5] by Emma Paterson and Emily Faithfull[4] with the company being officially incorporated as a cooperative in 1878.[1]
The company played an important role in British suffrage movement, both through its publication of feminist tracts and in providing employment opportunities for women in a field that had previously been restricted to men.[6] The house was set up to allow women to learn the trade of printing, and provided an apprenticeship program.[2] Women worked as compositors, and as of 1904, it was one of the few houses where they also did the imposing: ordering the galley proofs so that when folded, the front and back pages aligned properly.[2] As of 1899, the company employed 22 women as compositors.[1] The manager, proof-reader and bookkeeper were also women.[1] Men held the tasks of "pressmen and feeders".[7] The women apprentices earned a wage "considering the hours (9 to 6.30), etc., this is better pay than even highly-educated women can sometimes secure".[1] Some of the initial employees came from Faithfull's Victoria Press.[7]
