Florence Kelley Case Study

According to Lillian Wald, Florence Kelley is remembered as a woman who “was not afraid of truth, she was not afraid of life, she was not afraid of death, she was not afraid of enemies.” As a child, Kelley’s father William, who held a position in Congress, would take her on midnight tours of the factories where she witnessed young boys helping in the manufacture of steel and glass. The hazardous conditions in the mill triggered her lifetime campaign against the abuse of children in factories and tenement workshops. At age 17, Kelley attended Cornell University where she lent a helping hand in the foundation of the social science club. Being one of the first women to graduate from Cornell, Florence Kelley enrolled at the University of Zurich in Germany, the first European University that granted degrees to women. Here, she embraced in the teachings of socialism, and became further educated on the abuse of people living in poor social conditions. Subsequently, in June of 1884, Kelley married a Russian medical student and socialist. Together, they relocate to New York City, and have three children.
He presented evidence that showed a direct link between long hours of work and women’s health. The verdict of this case was determined on February 24, 1909, in favor of Florence Kelley, and every other woman in America. The methods that were utilized in the Supreme Court during this trial became the basis of a tradition that is known as the Brandeis Brief. After the Oregon decision, Illinois and numerous other states issued a new ten-hour law for women in factories. This inspired the Women’s Trade Union League of Chicago to propose a bill demanding that no women should be employed for more than forty eight hours in a given week on six consecutive days. By 1911, six western states had added suffrage amendments to their