Collection Summary

Title
Pennsylvania Child Labor Association Records

Dates
1905-1915      

Collection ID
Acc. 177

Creator
Pennsylvania Child Labor Association

Quantity
0.5 linear feet (1 box) 

Repository
Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries

Language
Materials in English

           

Detailed Collection Information

Historical Note

The Pennsylvania Child Labor Association was the outgrowth of a committee appointed by the State Federation of Women's Clubs in 1903. From its inception until 1908, the organization was known as the Pennsylvania Child Labor Committee. It became the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association in 1908 with local chapters established throughout the state. In 1912, the Association reorganized with two branches: the Eastern Branch situated in Philadelphia and the Western Branch situated in Pittsburgh. The state-wide office remained in Philadelphia. The Association's objectives included investigating and reporting the condition of child employment in gainful occupations throughout the state; promoting legislation to protect children from dangerous occupations; creating opportunities for education; enforcing the laws relating to child labor and compulsory education; and bringing educational and industrial opportunities closer in line.

Some of the accomplishments of the Association include the removal of Chief Labor Inspector Delaney in 1908; strengthen the existing, although inadequate, child labor laws, which it successfully did with a new child labor act 1915. The new act called for a nine hour day; a fifty-two hour week; and that children under varying ages attend approved vocational school for not less than one half day per work week.

Seeing an overlap in the area of work and education, the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association merged with the Public Education Association of Philadelphia (founded in 1880) to form the Public Education and Child Labor Association of Pennsylvania in 1915.

Description of Collection

The Pennsylvania Child Labor Association records document efforts to regulate child labor in Pennsylvania. Among other records, researchers will find constitution and bylaws, meeting minutes, financial records, and committee reports. Of note are copies of bills and ordinances and investigations, including "Age and Issuance Bill; Factories, Etc. and Anthracite and Bituminous Mines," 1908, and “The Night Messenger Service in Pennsylvania,” 1912.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 5 series as follows:

Series 1:  Administrative, 1905-1915
Series 2:  Financial, 1909-1914
Series 3:  Committee Reports, 1907-1914
Series 4:  Bills and Ordinances, 1906-1912
Series 5:  Investigations, 1910-1912

Patron Information

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Temple University’s online library catalog: http://diamond.temple.edu/record=b1663201~S30

Research Access

Collection is open for research.

Collections Stored Off-Site

This collection may be housed off-site at the Library Depository, and require up to two business days to retrieve. Please review the finding aid and be prepared to identify specific materials to be retrieved. Contact the Special Collections Research Center in advance of your visit, so that materials may be relocated to the reading room for research.

Publication and Copyright Information

The Pennsylvania Child Labor Association Records are on deposit in the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Pennsylvania Child Labor Association Records, Acc. 177, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Deposited by the Citizens Committee on Public Education in Philadelphia through Miriam L. Gafni, April 1974. 

Processing Information

Finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards in July 2015.

In processing this collection, it was impossible to determine which of the post 1908 records were generated by the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association; its Philadelphia chapter, the Philadelphia Child Labor Committee; and to a limited extent the Eastern Branch for the post 1912 records. Thus the committee minutes have been sequentially interfiled within the two administrative bodies.

           

Index Terms

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in Temple University’s electronic catalog:

Corporate Names:
Pennsylvania Child Labor Committee (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Public Education and Child Labor Association of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Public Education Association of Philadelphia (Pa.)
State Federation of Women's Clubs

Subjects:
Child labor -- Pennsylvania
Factories -- Pennsylvania
Labor -- Children -- Pennsylvania
Labor laws and legislation -- Pennsylvania
Vocational education -- Pennsylvania

Places:
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Pittsburgh (Pa.)

Material Types:
Administrative records
Articles of incorporation
Bylaws (administrative records)
Minutes
Reports