Editing Actors' Equity Association (section)

==History==
[[File:Leaders of Actors Equity on Parade During 1919 Strike.jpg|thumb|right|Actors' Equity president [[Francis Wilson (actor)|Francis Wilson]] (right) on parade with other leaders during the 1919 strike seeking recognition of the association as a labor union]]
[[File:DresslerBarrymore1919.jpg|thumb|[[Marie Dressler]], [[Ethel Barrymore]] & others during the 1919 strike.]]
At a meeting held at the Pabst Grand Circle Hotel in New York City, on May 26, 1913, Actors' Equity was founded by 112 professional theater actors, who established its constitution and elected [[Francis Wilson (actor)|Francis Wilson]] as president.<ref name="AEA90">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.actorsequity.org/NewsMedia/misc/celebration/
 |title=Actors' Equity: A 90 Year Celebration
 |access-date=2007-12-18
 |author=Actors' Equity Association
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195601/http://www.actorsequity.org/NewsMedia/misc/celebration/
 |archive-date=2016-03-04
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Stevens-Garmon, Morgen|date=May 21, 1913|url=http://mcnyblog.org/2013/05/21/100-years-of-the-actors-equity-association/ |title=100 years of the Actors' Equity Association|access-date=September 9, 2014}}, blog of the [[Museum of the City of New York]]</ref>

Leading up to the association's establishment, a handful of influential actors—known as The Players—held secret organizational meetings at Edwin Booth's [[The Players (New York City)|The Players]] at its Gramercy Park mansion. A bronze plaque commemorates the room in which The Players met to establish Actors' Equity. Members included [[Frank Gillmore]], who from was the executive secretary of Actors' Equity from 1918 to 1929 and president from 1929 to 1937.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sagaftra.org/|title=Presidents' Day Office Closure|website=www.sagaftra.org|accessdate=February 25, 2023}}</ref>

Actors' Equity joined the [[American Federation of Labor]] in 1919, and called a [[strike action|strike]] seeking recognition as a labor union.<ref name=AEA90/> The strike ended the dominance of the [[Producing Managers' Association]], including theater owners and producers like [[A. L. Erlanger|Abe Erlanger]] and his partner, [[Marc Klaw|Mark Klaw]]. The strike increased membership from under 3,000 to approximately 14,000. The [[Chorus Equity Association]], which merged with Actors' Equity in 1955, was founded during the strike.<ref>[http://www.actorsequity.org/aboutequity/timeline/timeline_1919.html "Timeline, 1919"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512223116/http://www.actorsequity.org/aboutequity/timeline/timeline_1919.html |date=2014-05-12 }} actorsequity.org, accessed December 3, 2011</ref>

Equity represented directors and choreographers until 1959, when they broke away and formed [[Stage Directors and Choreographers Society|their own union]].