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Contents list, 12 p
Material is arranged into five series.
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Reports, articles, case histories, and clippings representing a partial record of the anti-child labor movement. To a large extent, these documents are the work of Charles Lionel Chute.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Charles Lionel Chute papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Source of acquisition--Chute, Audrey S. Method of acquisition--Transferred from the New York School of Social Work, 1970, 1983; Date of acquisition--1959. Accession number--M-59.
Mr. Chute's long and successful career in social work began in 1910, soon after graduation from The New York School of Social Work, when he was appointed special agent for the National Child Labor Committee. Two years later he became executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association. During this period Mr. Chute drafted a uniform child labor law, and led many campaigns for the enactment of labor laws that would protect children from exploitation.
The studies, and reports of investigations, include valuable source material. They represent primary sources, the factual data about child labor conditions, principally in glass, mining, and textile industries, and in the street trades. As might be expected, these investigations were carried on in highly industrialized states such aa Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Illinois, during the years 1911 - 1913.
For students who may wish to trace evidence of early use of the community organization method, these documents will be an important historical source. It is indeed interesting that, fifty years ago, Charles L. Chute and other pioneer leaders who worked with him in the child labor movement, planned community-wise on state and local levels, to achieve social action goals. Specific references to the Pennsylvania campaign present evidence of the community planning process at work in 19131
To the research worker, the collection of 100 clippings will be a rich source of reporting on action and reaction trends during the Pennsylvania campaign of 1913. Mrs. Audrey S. Chute has written an excellent description and interpretation of these clippings, which is included in the annotated bibliography of the whole collection.
Gift of Audrey S. Chute to the New York School of Social Work, 1959; transferred in 1970 & 1983.
Surveyed Christina Hilton Fenn 05/03/89.
Collection processed by Audrey S. Chute, 1959. Previous finding aid written April 1959 by Margaret M. Otto, Librarian, The New York School of Social Work.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Empahsis on establishing and enforcing new laws which would protect children, employed mainly in industrial and commercial firms, by correcting the abuses inherent in bad working conditions, health hazards, lack of educational opportunities, etc.
(See The Survey, April 15, 1904 pp. 112-113. Article states that West Virginia and Pennsylvania, of all the states, did not exempt children under 16 from night work after 9 o'clock. Evils are especially great in the glass industry.)
(Contents include: Exhibit of Child-Labor and Sweatshop conditions; Seasonal Work and its Evils by Florence Kelley; Sweated Work in Philadelphia, by Florence Sanville; Child-Labor Situation in Pennsylvania, by Scott Nearling; Child-Labor in Eastern Pennsylvania, by Peter Roberts; Children in the Glass Industry in Pennsylvania, by Owen R. Lovejoy; Child-Labor in New York Tenements, by John Spargo; General Child-Labor Situation in the United States, by Samuel McCune Lindsay; and many photographs of child labor conditions.)
(A list of 20 glass manufacturers, giving opinions on the operation of this law.)
(Child labor laws although threatened early in the 1911 legislative session, were left unchanged. Special reference to employment of children on the stage.)
(Four suggestions made to improve the intolerable conditions under which little children live and work.)
(Discusses laws affecting boys under 16, enforcement of these laws, and manufacturers' reaction to new laws.)
( duplicate copy, 5 pp. Critical comments regarding enforcement. )
( schedules, typed manuscript.Report of an investigation of the glass manufacturing industry in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. )
( Reprinted from Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference on Child Labor, Birmingham, Alabama, March9-12,as published in Supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July, 1911. Article based on a comprehensive study of the glass industry, begun in the fall of 1910 when the writer was pursuing graduate work at Ohio State University. )
( congratulating Mr. Chute for his splendid work with the legislators of West Virginia, which resulted in passage of the child labor bill (Senate bill No. 138), early in 1911. )
(typed manuscript. Approval of Pennsylvania's new interest in better child labor legislation )
(Publication No. 14, American Association for Labor Legislation )
(Pamphlet No. 147) "Of 41 states holding legislative sessions in 1911 no less than 30 enacted new laws relating to child labor. These had been carefully considered, and some of their best provisions adopted in this draft, which was prepared through the valuable assistance of Charles L. Chute who thoroughly revised and brought up to date the text and references.11 Preface. )
(Pamphlet No. 147) "This draft, with annotations was thoroughly revised and brought up to date by Mr. Charles L. Chute." )
(Includes address by Charles L. Chute on "The Glass Industry and Child Labor Legislation," pp. 123-132. Among other well-known speakers at this Conference were: Florence Kelley, Owen R. Lovejoy, A.J. McKelway, Jane Addams, Lewis W. Hine, Edward N. Clopper, Fred S. Hall, and Richard K. Conant. )
(Review of Vol. Ill of the monumental Government Report (19 vols.) on the Condition of Woman and Child Wage-Earners in the United States, authorized by a special act of Congress in 1907 and prepared under the direction of the U.S. Commissioner of Labor, 1911. Volume III is devoted to the glass industry. )
(The work of 14 state Inspectors of Health under the State Board of Health is described as inadequate to the extent that their duties are concerned with the enforcement of labor laws only in factories and other establishments. )
(The system followed, and the routine work of the Factory Inspection Department, New York State Department of Labor, are described and evaluated. )
(New legislation was proposed which would raise educational qualifications in order to secure working permits. Enforcement of these laws is also important. Includes typed manuscript of this article. )
(Includes: The Enforcement of Child Labor Laws by Charles L. Chute, pp. 10S-113; Summary of State Laws; The Uniform Child Labor Law; Street Trades and Their Regulation, a Symposium. )
(Evidence of the need for better legislation and greater educational opportunities in the state, which leads in those industries employing the most children. )
(Survey of 6 cities after new child labor and compulsory education laws had been passed. )
( Conditions under which employment certificates were issued in New York City, under provision of the state law. )
(Facts about working children of the street (newsboys), little toilers of the mines, and the factory children. Conditions in Pennsylvania point to the need for more protection through child labor legislation, and/or better enforcement of existing laws. )
(Publicity leaflet, interpreting "What the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association is doing and what it hopes to do." )
(Lack of cooperation between the Superintendent of Schools and the Factory Inspector, Department of Labor, had resulted in failure to enforce compulsory school attendance. A statement of "The Work of the New York State Education Department" (1 typed page), relative to enforcement of attendance laws, is attached to the Albany report. )
(Concerns the issuing of employment certificates. Mr. Chute states, "There is little if any cooperation between this Bureau and any other enforcing authority and children are not kept track of in any way after obtaining certificates." )
(Comparison of methods used by the Albany and the Troy Bureaus, in issuing employment certificates. )
(Emphasis on the need for constructive legislation "aimed at the education and development of efficient and happy men and women, out of the raw material of childhood." )
(9 pp. typed manuscript. The problem is stated as inherent in the effort to adjust our economic system to the increasing demand that children shall be educated, protected, and given a fairly equal start in life. )
(The lack of law enforcement in Pennsylvania again points to the importance of working for social reform through legislation-a uniform child labor law, the proposed provisions of which are analyzed. )
(Pictures, poems, and stories have been reproduced and written ostensibly for children who do not have to work. Remarkable photographs, touching propaganda. )
(Article on child employment in mines, textile mills, theaters, as newsboys, and night messengers (for houses of prostitution as well as for regular service); also an appeal for citizen support of new labor laws and their enforcement. )
(Describes the proposed Bill and compares the provisions with those in force at the time. )
( Creation of a Department of Labor and Industry, appointment of a qualified Department head, the non-political appointment of Chief Factory Inspector-all forward steps for the welfare of child workers. In accomplishing these gains members of the Pennsylvania Child Labor Association under the forceful leadership of its Executive Secretary, Mr. Charles L. Chute, were actively engaged. )
( entire issue. Addresses on the first topic were delivered at a luncheon of the City Club, January 11, 1913. Speakers on several aspects of the second topic, at the City Club's evening meeting on the same day, included Miss Julia Lathrop, Mrs. Florence Kelley, Mr. Charles L. Chute, and Mr. Owen R. Lovejoy. Programme leaflet of both meetings (37a) attached to the Bulletin. )
( 17 pp. (Pamphlet No. 33). Includes discussion of: The Eight-Hours Day for Children; Hours Limited Above Sixteen; Employment of Children at Night; Street Trade Regulations; The Night Messenger; Employment Certificates. )
( Pamphlet No. 36) Presents in graphic form, pictures of typical child workers-in the textile mills, the coal breakers, glass factories, as newsboys and night messengers. An appeal for support of the Association which is devoted to the work of studying these problems, and of eliminating them. )
( A report on reasons for defeat of the Walnut Child Labor Bill by the 1913 State Legislature. The letter closes with a clear statement of program and future activity, towards enactment of a new child labor law. )
( Extension series No. 1)Cases and records of houses of prostitution, showing accounts,payments to girls, police, etc. )
( Extension series, No. 1, Supp.) Further statistics and details of girls serving in houses of prostitution. )
( 65 pp. typed manuscript (confidential). Information from boys in night messenger service; also case histories, and records of inmates of houses of prostitution. )
( 14 pp. typed manuscript (confidential). Boys as young as 12 had been assigned work in "districts". A law controlling age limit was suggested. )
( One of a series of lectures to the public, arranged by the Public Health Committee of the Essex County Medical Society. )
( 3 pp. typed. Attached is account of an interview with Postal Messenger boy, July 22, 1912 also in Harrisburg, Pa. 2 pp. typed. )
( 47 pp. typed manuscript(confidential). Case histories of boys in night messenger service. )
( 2 pp. typed. Attached is statement of an interview with Postal Telegraph Company, Philadelphia, Pa., February17, 1912. 1 p. typed. )
( 10 pp. (Leaflet No. 30)Offers a proposed ordinance relating to minors working in streets and public places. )
( This collection of clippings covering the years from 1904 through 1913 gives excellent insight into the history of the campaigns for humane legislation in behalf of children employed in the backward states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The leading issues involved were those of securing proper working hours for children sixteen and under (not to exceed eight hours a day), of obtaining sanitary and decently healthful working conditions, and for laws designed to free children in school from night work. Many of the 13,000 children employed in 1913in the glass industry trudged home at three in the morning, then struggled to keep awake during school hours. The collection contains marvelous cartoons, "Child-Exploiting-Industry," showing the fat industrialist ruthlessly sitting a-top the monied rocks, below, the children shown are being crushed under these, as they struggle to make the pile higher. There are prints of boy coal-breakers, and glass factory boys on strike. The clippings reveal the social work attitudes of the times and refer to various labor union policies. The reporters and editorial writers of the day were frequently (and delightfully) crude while defending the "poor" industrial capitalists against the "sentimental do-gooders'" persecutions. Unfortunate amendments were added to the famous Walnut Child Labor Bill, (Pa.) which would have effectively hampered its usefulness had it gone through. Mr. Walnut worked with sincere fervor, aiding the Pennsylvania's Child Labor Association and Mr. Chute to push the bill through. We are hardly prepared, however, to read in the morning press of June 28th that "Representative Walnut, sponsor of the bill fainted when announcement was made to the House that the bill was doomed." Another quotation from the press of the day in opposition to the whole campaign, adds to our respect for the sturdy persistence the pioneers in this field maintained when the very fundamentals of thinking in this field of education must have seemed abysmal. "There are doubtless a great many children employed in our factories who ought to be in school, but many of them if compelled to go to school would be wasting their time and forming habits that might ruin their lives." Description of the Clippings by Audrey S. Chute)
( Report concerned mainly with inquiries into the question of employers' liability. )
( Investigation of 280 fatal industrial accidents which occurred in Erie County during 1907 and 1908 and in Manhattan borough during 1908 to discover the legal and economic outcome of each accident. The full tabulation of results, prepared by Charles L. Chute, appears in Appendix III of the Commission's 1909 Report. )
( pp. 218-222. A well-informed article on such matters as the causes of accidents, treatment of accident victims, what happens to the family? What is adequate compensation? The law's long delays, Proposed remedies, Voluntary compensation schemes, Legislation in the United States today (i.e. 1910). )
( 69 pp. appendices. Typed manuscript. This thesis is unique in that the area of investigation was limited to the field of social work. The author based this study of the social effects of industrial accidents upon analysis of 47 family records, selected from the files of the Charity Organization Society, and the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. Information scheduled from these case histories was checked in follow-up interviews, and a comparison made with the findings in earlier, more general statistical studies. )