Florence Kelley: A Famous Progressive Era Social Reform

Florence Kelley was a famous Progressive-Era social reformer known for her protective legislation on working women and children. From a young age, she committed herself to social reform like at Hull House in Chicago and also as the first general secretary of the National Consumers League. She later helped start National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) who policy was “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.” The famous case of Muller V. Oregon showed Florence’s conquest to establish labor laws against working long hours and bad working conditions. This case paved a way into new ideas and eventually created the labor unions we have today

Florence’s father, Congressman William Kelley, was a social activist who fought for the poor. He taught her about the child labor, and many times took her to factories to see young boys working in dangerous conditions. She stated that these experiences

The women at the Hull Houses were of her class who strongly believed that they belonged in the public workplace and had the idea of protecting children and women in the workplace. They wanted to give all humans social injustice and democracy for all. While at the Hull House, she found interest in urban poverty since it reflected her life when she was married and was later appointed to the Chief Factory Inspector by Governor John P. Altgeld. She later earned a degree in law from Northwestern University and in 1899, she returned to New York to take the position of first general secretary of the newly founded National Consumers League. The National Consumers League is an organization that was created in order to gain control of the purchasing powers of the public and put it towards good labor practices. Florence stayed with the League for over thirty