Florence Kelley
Florence Kelley was a prominent social reformer born in 1859 in Philadelphia. The daughter of a U.S. congressman, she faced early hardships, including the loss of her parents. Kelley was a pioneering education advocate, becoming one of the first women to graduate from Cornell University in 1882. Following her studies in Europe, where she developed a strong interest in Marxist thought, she returned to the United States and became significantly involved in social reform efforts. In Chicago, she worked at Hull House, where she focused on improving labor conditions and advocating against child labor.
Kelley later became the chief factory inspector in Illinois and was instrumental in enacting labor legislation, including the establishment of the ten-hour workday. She co-founded the National Consumers League and played a crucial role in the formation of the NAACP. Throughout her life, Kelley wrote extensively on social justice and labor rights, advocating for the rights of children, workers, women, and minorities. She was also active in various organizations promoting peace and suffrage, leaving a lasting legacy in the fight for social reform. Kelley passed away in 1932, but her contributions to labor rights and social justice continue to be recognized.
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Subject Terms
Florence Kelley
Reformer
- Born: September 12, 1859
- Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Died: February 17, 1932
- Place of Death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
Florence Kelley was born in Philadelphia in 1859, a daughter of William D. Kelley, a US congressman, and Caroline Bartram Bonsall Kelley. Her parents, who had eight children, died when she was quite young. She was then raised by Isaac and Kay Pugh. She was the only one of her parents' six daughters to survive childhood.
Kelley studied at Cornell University, where she was one of the first women to earn a degree in 1882. The following year, she moved to Europe to attend the University of Zurich. While studying in Zurich, Kelley became a follower of Karl Marx. During that time, she worked on an English translation of Friedrich Engels’s The Conditions of the Working Class in England in 1844, published in 1887.
Kelley married a Russian medical student. They moved to the United States and lived in New York. However, the marriage did not last. In 1889, Kelley left her husband and moved to Chicago, Illinois, with their three children. She began working at Hull House in 1891. She surveyed the working conditions around the Hull House Settlement and reported on child labor in area factories.
In 1893, Kelley was appointed a chief factory inspector. She inspected factories and worked to pass legislation on child labor. She also studied law at Northwestern University, graduating in 1894. Five years later, she established the National Consumers League, an organization that worked to establish workers’ rights and minimum wages, with Jane Addams and Josephine Shaw Lowell.
In 1905, Kelley, along with writers Upton Sinclair and Jack London, created the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. She traveled throughout the United States and recruited people to her cause. In 1909, the always-busy Kelley helped establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She was involved in other groups and organizations, including the Woman’s Peace Party and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Kelley wrote a number of books calling for social and labor reform, including Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation (1905) and The Supreme Court and Minimum Wage Legislation (1925). In 1927, she published her autobiography. Kelley died on February 17, 1932.
Impact
Kelley was a champion of the rights of children, workers, women, and minorities. She helped to pass labor laws, such as the creation of the ten-hour workday, and helped to establish the NAACP. She was the vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and a founding member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Personal Life
Kelley married to Lazare Wischnewetzky in 1884. They had three children before they divorced.
"Kelley, Florence." Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries Social Welfare History Project, 3 Apr. 2008, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/people/kelley-florence/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
Norwood, Arlisha R. "Florence Kelley (1859-1932)." National Women's History Museum, 2017, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/florence-kelley. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
"Who Was Florence Kelley?" Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Blog, 29 Mar. 2022, www.hullhousemuseum.org/hullhouse-blog/2022/2/24/florence-kelley. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.