equality and quality of life for women.
American women's suffrage activist Helen Todd originated the phrase "Bread and Roses" in a speech in 1911. Her plea for fair wages and better working conditions, as well as access to music, education, nature, and books led James Oppenheim to pen a poem. The poem has been set to music by no less than three composers and was widely sung in the 1930s by women supporting labor strikes at manufacturing plants. From there the song worked its way onto some women's college campuses, most notably Bryn Mawr College, where it remains a ballad sung at their traditional step sings.