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The March of the Mill Children
On this day in history, Mary Harris Jones, a labor leader also known as Mother Jones, led the "March of the Mill Children" from Pennsylvania to Oyster Bay, New York. This march opened the eyes of America to the negative impacts child labor had on children. These impacts caught the attention of President Woodrow Wilson. -
National Child Labor Committee
On this day in history, a group of progressive reformers created the National Child Labor Committee whose goal was to abolish child labor. They hired investigators to gather evidence of the terrible conditions these childrens worked in. Because of their efforts to terminate child labor, the Childrens Bureau was founded as a federal information clearinghouse. -
The Bitter Cry of Children
On this day in history, muckraker John Spargo wrote "The Bitter Cry of Children" to show America the conditions children worked in. As a result, his book became one of the most read books revealing the terrible conditions of child labor. (CL,4) -
Pictures
On this day in history, the NCLC recieved a charter from congress. This allowed them to take pictures of horrible child labor and display it to America. This lead to the establishment of the Childrens Bureau. It was a welfare for working children. -
Lewis Hine
On this day in history, Lewis Hine, photographer and former teacher, joined the National Child Labor Committee. He began going undercover in jobs that children worked in so he coukd photograph the dreadful conditions. This allowed America to see behind the gilded things and focus on the terror of child labor. (CL,4). -
New Freedom
On this day in history, when Woodrow Wilson became president he ran the New Freedom campaign, a collection of all his speeches. He saw child labor as abuse of big business and encouraged the government to stop it. (CL,5). -
Keating - Owen Act
On this day in history, the Keating - Owen Act was created. The act said that children under the age of 16 in mining and 14 in manufacturing could not work. If they did, the places they worked at coukd not sell anything. -
The Governments Power
On this day in history, the Keating - Owen Act was ruled unconstitutional. The Supreme Court thought the government didn't have enough power to regulate big businesses. The government coukd manage production and commerce, not worker conditions.
