By: Danielle Harrison

THE BEGINNING OF A MOVEMENT

THESIS:

Nell Nelson’s (aka Helen Cusach Cavalho) exposure of child labor in the late 1800s.

How her front page stories lead to child labor and women’s rights movements.

“CITY SLAVE GIRLS”

A collection of articles exposing what goes on inside the sweat shops, and what abuse women and children workers were facing.

“City Slave Girls” I (Nelson, 1888)

INVASION OF SWEATSHOPS

• Nell Nelson was hired in over 15 sweatshops in Chicago

• She had to work at multiple locations to be guaranteed work

• Most employers demanded they use their own tools and materials with minimal pay

• Employees were charged weekly for water and fined for eating and being late

• Many children working were 12 – 15 years old, and some parents lied about their child's age so they could work

INVASION OF SWEATSHOPS

• On her first day of her first job at the Western Lace Manufacturing Company, Nelson watched a female employee come in to quit and collect her last paycheck

• The employee was told to sit and wait for hours only to be told the boss was not in and she was not going to be paid

• Nelson interviewed the employee and also learned employees had to pay $3.00 to start, which included job security, training, and raw materials.

• To breakeven, one would have to work 5 weeks straight

INCREASING AWARENESS

“City Slave Girls” V (Nelson, 1888)“City Slave Girls” XX (Nelson, 1888)

INCREASING AWARENESS:ILLINOIS WOMAN’S ALLIANCE (IWA)

• They were a “direct result of Nelson’s expose” (Liguori, 2012)

• Sponsored the compulsory education bill which mandated a 12 – 24 week school year for children ages 7 to 14

• Passed in May 1889 with an exemption of parental consent

• Demanded children are not hired without a certificate signed by the Board of Education and the Health Department stating:

• Age, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Doctor stating they are healthy enough to work, have completed the compulsory education law

INCREASING AWARENESS:THE CHICAGO TRADE & LABOR ASSEMBLY (CTLA)

• They were involved with the IWA

• Launched their own investigation similar to Nelson’s

• Went into over 30 sweatshops

• Published a 24 page pamphlet called “The New Slavery: Investigation into the Sweating System” (Liguori, 2012)

• Discovered women made up half the labor force, and many were children under the age of 14

INCREASING AWARENESS:THE HULL HOUSE

• A settlement house looking to achieve reform

• Discovered young girls were working 6 days a week for 14 hour days

• Pressured the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics to investigate workplace conditions and their request was granted

The Hull House ( National Women’s History Museum, 2007)

“NELSON HAD TRULY INITIATED A MOVEMENT” (LIGUORI, 2012)

• Due to Nelson’s work, the CTLA, and the Hull House, a three part bill was proposed and passed by the state legislature. It included:

• “1. Lacking sanitary conditions

• 2. Better enforcement of current laws (specifically child labor, truancy, and compulsory education)

• 3. An eight hour work week for women.” (Liguori, 2012)

“CITY SLAVE GIRLS” INSPIRED:

• Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, co-founded the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL)

• They fought for: “women's suffrage, better pay and working conditions for women, and supported other progressive causes” ()

• They later launched an investigation like Nelson’s in 1911 for safer working conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory after a fire

• The Charitable Alliance of the city of Davenport, Iowa

• “dozens of individuals and organizations evolved almost immediately post-Nelson, experiencing rapid growth and increased social support” (Liguori, 2012)

Nelson also went on to write more pieces such as: “White Girl Slaves,” “Poverty’s Victims Chained to a Sewing Machine,” and more exposures such as Schawb & Son’s dirty workplace and low wages. (Liguori, 2012)

CITATIONS:• Nelson, Nell. ""City Slave Girls" - Nell Nelson - Chicago Times [aka "White Slave Girls" -

New York World]." "City Slave Girls" July 30, 1888. Accessed November 4, 2014. http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/city-slave-girls-nell-nelson-chicago-times-aka-white-slave-girls-new-york-world.

• Liguori, Eric. "Nell Nelson and The Chicago Times "City Slave Girls" Series: Beginning a National Crusade for Labor Reform in the Late 1800s." 18, no. 1 (2012): 61-81. Accessed November 1, 2014. http://ezproxy.wpunj.edu:3776/docview/912507137?pq-origsite=summon.

• "Women in the Progressive Era." Women in the Progressive Era. January 1, 2007. Accessed November 25, 2014. https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/progressiveera/hullhouse.html.

• "Women's Trade Union League of Chicago CollectionAn Inventory of Its Records at the University of Illinois at ChicagoInventory Prepared by George Stachokas." Women's Trade Union League of Chicago CollectionAn Inventory of Its Records at the University of Illinois at ChicagoInventory Prepared by George Stachokas. Accessed November 30, 2014. http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/services/rjd/findingaids/WTULb.html.