biography
| name: |
Kelley, Florence (Molthrop)
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| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1859–1932)
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| biography:
| Social reformer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Raised in a middle-class family and influenced by the Quakers, she was educated mainly at home before attending Cornell (1882 BA). Denied entry to the University of Pennsylvania graduate school because of her sex, she taught for a while and then studied at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. There she adopted Socialism and translated Friedrich Engel's Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844. She also married a Russian medical student, Lazare Wischnewetzky, and they came to New York City (1886) and became involved in the Social Labor Party, but they separated in 1891. She moved to Illinois, got a divorce, adopted her maiden name, and gained custody of their three children. She joined the Hull House (1891–9) and played a major role in calling attention to working conditions of children and women. Impatient with the prosecution of violations of new laws, she got a law degree at Northwestern University (1894) and continued working for improved conditions. In 1899 she became the general secretary of the newly founded National Consumers' League and moved to New York City, and for the rest of her life she dedicated herself to using public pressure to force reform in labour practices. Her best-known book was Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation (1905) and she played a prominent role in federal legislation for child labour minimum wages. In 1909 she helped form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and helped form the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (1919). After World War 1 she worked so hard to promote child labour legislation that she was often accused of being a Communist. |
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