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Wischnewetzky, Florence Kelley, 1859-1932We have 1 book for this author.Florence Kelley (September 12, 1859 - February 17, 1932) was a reformer from Philadelphia. She was the daughter of Congressman William Darrah "Pig Iron" Kelley. She was a self-made woman who renounced her business activities to become an abolitionist, a founder of the Republican party and a judge, and worked for numerous political and social reforms. Socialism, marriage and translationsFlorence Kelley was an early supporter of women's suffrage. In Zurich, she met various European socialists, including Polish-Russian medical student Lazare Wischnewetzky, whom she married in 1884 (the couple divorced in 1891). She is well-known for her translation of Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England, written in 1844 by Friedrich Engels, with whom she corresponded frequently. As The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844, it has been in print ever since. She appears there as 'Mrs. F. Kelley Wischnewetzky' and was also known as Florence Kelley Wischnewetzky. National Consumers LeagueAs well as doing translations, she was inspired to work with the poor, and she went to Hull House to help out in 1892. The next year, Kelley was appointed to serve as Illinois' first factory inspector. In 1899, she created the National Consumers League (NCL), which encouraged consumers to buy products only from companies that met the NCL’s standards of minimum wage and working conditions. Kelley led campaigns that reshaped the conditions under which goods were produced in the United States. Among her accomplishments were the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and laws regulating hours and establishing minimum wages. Socialism and Civil RightsShe was a member of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, an activist for woman suffrage and African-American civil rights. In 1909 Kelley helped create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and thereafter became a friend and ally of W.E.B. DuBois. She also worked to help the child labor laws and the working conditions. HeritageJohn Haven Emerson, inventor of the Emerson iron lung and many other beneficial medical devices, was a nephew of Kelley's. Maxfield Parrish, the famous illustrator, was also a close relative. She strongly influenced Frances Perkins, the USA's first female cabinet minister. Among Perkins' achievements as Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor were bringing an end to child labour in the USA. Publications
"Florence Kelley and the Nation's World: The Rise of Women's Political Culture, 1830-1900" Sklar, Kathryn Kish. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1995. External links and references
This biographical information was gathered from the Florence_Kelley_Wischnewetzky page, courtesy of the Wikipedia project. BooksThe Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 with a Preface written in 1892 |
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