Social Worker and Lawyer

O'Connor was hired, in 1918, as Supervisor of Social Work by the Massachusetts Department of Education's Immigration and Naturalization Division to advise and advocate for newly arrived immigrants, particularly women.
Map of ethnic areas in Lawrence found in Miss O'Connor's Diary.
Her work was based in Boston, but there was also an office in Lawrence. While she continued with the social work, regularly going to the pier to meet the ships coming in, she began to study law at Portia Law School, which had been established for women in 1908. The school was the precursor to the New England School of Law. She received her LLB degree in 1926, using it not for private practice, but to advocate for immigrants and push for more just laws. She later became Director of the Division.