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Grace Abbott: Child Labor Activist

By Joyce Furstenau
At what age do you think kids should start working for wages? Children as
young as four were put to work in factories during the Industrial Revolution.
Children have been part of the labor force throughout history. It was only after
public education became available that the rights of children began to change.
The first general laws against child labor were called the Factory Acts. They
were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century. Children younger than
nine were no longer allowed to work. If you were under the age of eighteen, your
workday was limited to twelve hours.
Grace Abbott was an important voice in the fight to protect children's rights. It
was her voice that protected mothers and children. She tried to protect immigrants
from abuse. She rescued children in the work force from the horrible conditions of
the time.
Grace Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska on November 17, 1878. She
graduated from Grand Island Baptist College in 1898. She went on to teach high
school in Grand Island and then in Broken Bow, Nebraska for several years.
In 1907, Grace moved to Chicago where she began her career in social work. She lived in Hull House, a
"settlement house" located in Chicago, until 1917. Hull House was the first settlement house in the United States.
The purpose of a settlement house was to help people in poor urban areas. Middle class volunteers called
"settlement workers" lived in the settlement. The volunteers shared their knowledge and culture with the new
immigrants. Education played a major role in the settlement house programs.
During her years at Hull House, Grace served on several national committees to advance child welfare. In
1917, she was appointed as director of the Industrial Division of the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of
Labor. In 1916, Congress finally passed the first federal child labor law. As director, it was Grace's job to
develop plans to enforce this law.
In 1921, President Warren Harding appointed her as head of the Children's Bureau. As head of the Bureau, she
administered the Sheppard-Towner Act provisions. The Sheppard-Towner Act provided federal funding for
expectant mothers as well as childcare. Her continued concern for children's welfare inspired her to write a book
titled The Child and the State.
Grace Abbott provided the leadership to fund research on children in all aspects of the work force as well as
juvenile delinquency. From 1922 to 1934, she served as the official representative of the U.S. on the League of
Nations' advisory committee on child welfare.
In 1931, Grace Abbot was named one of the "Twelve Greatest Living American Women" in a nationwide poll
conducted by Good Housekeeping magazine. She continued as head of the Bureau until 1934, when she resigned
and became a professor at the University of Chicago. She was associated with the Social Security Administration
from 1934 until her death in 1939. For those five years, Abbott helped in the drafting of the Social Security Act.
Grace Abbot played a very important role in the lives of children all over the world. She was voted into the
Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1976.

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Grace Abbott: Child Labor Activist

Questions
1. At what age did children begin working during the Industrial Revolution?

2. Those under the age of eighteen could work how long?

3. In what state was Grace Abbott born?

4. What was a settlement house?

A. a house built by settlers
B. a place to help immigrants and the poor get a better start
C. a house that was free to new settlers
D. a place for new families to build a settlement
5. When was the first child labor law passed by Congress?
A. 1916
B. 1918
C. 1919
D. 1921
6. In what year was Grace Abbot named one of the "Twelve Greatest Living American Women"?
A. 1922
B. 1917
C. 1931
D. 1939

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We are told that children as young as four years old worked in factory jobs during the Industrial Revolution.
Why do you suppose parents allowed children to work at such a young age?

Child labor is still happening in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Why do you think people are still using
children in the work force?