The League, like Local 25, had expected a turnout of four or five thousand. They were bowled over by this army, utterly unprepared for it. They had organized strikes in the garment trade, small ones, usually confined to a single shop, but never before had they undertaken something on so vast a scale. They might fail, might be laughed at by the whole of New York as well as John Dyche and the ILGWU men, and all the same they knew this was the challenge they'd been hoping for — their chance to show the world they were more than highbrow butters-in, just as the shirtwaist makers were more than irresponsible little girls. How would a careful rereading of this excerpt help a reader understand the “League” mentioned in the first sentence?

The reader could make the connection between the “League” and the word “bowled” in the second sentence to conclude that they are a bowling team.
The reader could make the connection between the “League” and “shirtwaist makers” in the last sentence to realize they are the same group of women.
The reader could make the connection between the “League” and the third sentence, which explains that they “organized strikes in the garment trade.”
The reader could make the connection between the “League” and the “ILGWU men” in the last sentence to note that they are both parts