Biography And Major Achievements Of Florence Kelley
“In order to be rated as good as a good man in the field of her earnings, she must show herself better than he. She must be more steady, or more trustworthy, or more skilled, or more cheap in order to have the same chance of employment. ” (Brainquote) Women had to prove themselves better than men at everything to just stand a chance of getting a job. Florence Kelley fought for this idea along with fighting against child labor and racial discrimination.
Florence Kelley was born on September 12, 1859, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Florence was born into social activism as a kid because both her parents were abolitionists. At 16 she entered Cornell University. She traveled to Europe after graduation to study at the University of Zurich. While working at the Hull-House founded by Jane Addams, Kelley was hired to investigate the labor industry in the city. Her findings were shocking and led to many changes in working conditions. She was selected to be the Chief Factory Inspector for the state of Illinois. She was the first woman to hold this position. As an inspector, Kelley tried to force sweatshops to follow the rules to treat their employees better. She sued several businesses. Unfortunately, she never won, however, this inspired her to become a lawyer. In 1895, Kelley graduated with a law degree from Northwestern University.
Her first major achievement was when she moved to New York City in 1899 and became the president of the National Consumers League (NCL). At the NCL Kelley worked hard to shorten workdays and pay workers more money. Kelley’s work helped create 10-hour workdays and some state minimum wage laws. Her time with the NCL resulted in the white label being created. The “white label” was given to stores that treated employees fairly. Citizens were asked to support worker’s rights by only shopping at businesses that had the “white label. ” All of this was a cause of Kelley’s willingness to help overworked and underpaid laborers.
Her next major achievement was about racial discrimination. Kelley was so focused on her studies into working conditions that she was unaware of how different races in the workforce were being treated differently. In 1909, Kelley helped organize the (NAACP) National Advancement of Colored People. This organization has worked hard to ensure that the workplaces are equal to all people of color.
Her last big accomplishment was fixing child labor. Kelley worked to end child labor. In 1911, she founded the National Labor Committee (NLC) which worked to eliminate child labor from all factories. This was all because she saw how poorly they were being treated when she worked to inspect workplaces. She was one of the main abolitionists behind banning child labor.
She is still remembered today because she spent her entire life fighting for better conditions for workers and equality for women and African Americans. Kelley has helped kickstart several organizations to deal with these problems and has introduced legislation and bans against them. She devoted her life to making the world a better place and she fought for what she thought was right. All of these things made her memorable and very respectable.
