Florence Kelley

Infobox Person


name = Florence Kelley
birth_date = birth date|1859|9|12|mf=y
birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
death_date = death date and age|1932|2|17|1859|9|12
death_place = Germantown
occupation = American social reformer
spouse = Lazare Wischnewetzky
parents =William D. Kelley and Caroline Bartram-Bonsall
children =

Florence Kelley (September 12, 1859 – February 17, 1932) was a social and political reformer from Philadelphia. Her work with children's rights is widely regarded today. [Margolin, C.R. (1978) "Salvation versus Liberation: The Movement for Children's Rights in a Historical Context," "Social Problems. 25"4. (April), pp. 441-452]

Family

She was the daughter of Congressman William Darrah "Pig Iron" Kelley, a self-made man who renounced his business activities to become an abolitionist, a founder of the Republican party and a judge, and worked for numerous political and social reforms, including the NAACP.

ocialism, marriage and translations

Florence Kelley was an early supporter of women's suffrage. In Zurich, she met various European socialists, including Polish-Russian medical student Lazare Wischnewetzky, whom she married in 1884 (the couple divorced in 1891). She is well-known for her translation of "Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England", written in 1844 by Friedrich Engels, with whom she corresponded frequently. As "The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844", it has been in print ever since. She appears there as 'Mrs. F. Kelley Wischnewetzky' and was also known as Florence Kelley Wischnewetzky.

ocialism and Civil Rights

A graduate of Cornell University, she was a member of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, an activist for woman suffrage and African-American civil rights. She was follower of Karl Marx and a friend of Friedrich Engels' whose book, The Condition of the Working Class in England, she translated into English. The translation she made is still used today. In 1909 Kelley helped create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and thereafter became a friend and ally of W.E.B. DuBois. She also worked to help the child labor laws and the working conditions. [ [http://chswg.binghamton.edu/kelley.htm CHSWG, Florence Kelley Letters project ] ] Kelley's father had toured her through glass factories at night when she was little. Cite http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=f_kelley . Kelley fought to make it illegal for children under the age of 14 to work and to limit the hours of children under 16. She fought to give them the right of education, arguing children must be nurtured to be intelligent people. (Cite From her book Some Ethical Gains)

Publications

*"The responsibility of the consumer." New York City: National Child Labor Committee, 1908?
*"The Present Status of Minimum Wage Legislation." New York City: National Consumers' League, 1913.
*"Modern Industry: in relation to the family, health, education, morality." New York: Longmans, Green 1914.
*"Women in Industry: the Eight Hours Day and Rest at Night, upheld by the United States Supreme Court." New York: National Consumers' League, 1916.
*"Twenty Questions about the Federal Amendment Proposed by the National Woman's Party." New York: National Consumers' League, 1922.

Works about Kelley

Kathryn Kish Sklar. "Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Women's Political Culture, 1830-1900." New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1995.

External links and references

* [http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/people_kelley.html Florence Kelley (1859-1932) on harvard.edu]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAWkelley.htm Florence Kelly on schoolnet.co.uk]
* [http://www.alexanderstreet6.com/wasm/ Florence Kelley on Women and Social Movements, subscription required]
* [http://www.polybiblio.com/quaritch/H995.41.html Biographical note]
* " [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1886/letters/86_02_03.htm A letter from Engels to Florence Kelley Wischnewetzky] "
* [http://muse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/access.cgi?uri=/journals/reviews_in_american_history/v024/24.1scharf.html Entry at 'project Muse'] (needs a subscription to read it all)
* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2099/Florence_Kelly_fought_for_civil_rights Florence Kelley fought for civil rights]