Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: B-24

Records of the Consumers' League of Massachusetts, 1891-1955

Overview

Minutes, financial statements, reports, etc., of the Consumers' League of Massachusetts, which sought to mobilize public opinion in support of improved conditions for workers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1891-1955

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the records created by the Consumers' League of Massachusetts as well as copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

12.93 linear feet ((31 file boxes) plus 1 folio+ folder)

Scope and Contents

The papers of the Consumers' League of Massachusetts include the records of the organization, extensive files of correspondence with individuals and organizations, articles and reports by Consumers' League associates, and publications of the League. There are some records of the National Consumers' League, and publications of the National League and other state leagues. The collection contains considerable material on child labor, including: the work of the National Child Labor Committee, material on the "Child Labor Amendment," and on efforts to raise the compulsory school attendance age. The remaining papers cover many aspects of working conditions in industry, particularly concerning women workers, and including such topics as wages and hours, sweatshops, homework, industrial poisoning, strikes, unions, social security and workmen's compensation.

Additional Description

HISTORY

The Consumers' League of Massachusetts, established in 1898, sought to mobilize public opinion in support of improved conditions for workers.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in six series:
  1. Series I. Records of the Organization
  2. Series II. General Correspondence
  3. Series III. Correspondence with Individuals
  4. Series IV. Materials re: National and State Consumers' League
  5. Series V. Child Labor
  6. Series VI. Subject File

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 55-56, 56-166

The records of the Consumers' League of Massachusetts were given to the Schlesinger Library by the Consumers' League of Massachusetts in 1955 and in 1956.

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Box 1: 1-10
  2. Box 2: 11-31
  3. Box 3: 32-47
  4. Box 4: 48-62
  5. Box 5: 63-78
  6. Box 6: 79-92
  7. Box 7: 93-106
  8. Box 8: 107-125
  9. Box 9: 126-141
  10. Box 10: 142-154
  11. Box 11: 155-185
  12. Box 12: 186-205
  13. Box 13: 206-217
  14. Box 14: 218-236
  15. Box 15: 237-252
  16. Box 16: 253-267
  17. Box 17: 268-284
  18. Box 18: 285-300
  19. Box 19: 301-310
  20. Box 20: 311-331
  21. Box 21: 332-346, volume 1
  22. Box 22: 347-360
  23. Box 23: 361-380
  24. Box 24: 381-405
  25. Box 25: 406-427
  26. Box 26: 428-446
  27. Box 27: 447-464, volume 2
  28. Box 28: 465-484
  29. Box 29: 485-503
  30. Box 30: 504-512
  31. Box 31: volumes 3-5

SEPARATION RECORD

The following items have been removed from the collection:
  1. Ball, Florence V. Children and industry. Cleveland, S.J. Monck, printer, 1921.
  2. Coleman, Beverly. Child labor and compulsory school attendance laws of all the 48 states. N.R.A. March, 1936.
  3. Consumers' League of Cincinnati. A study of industrial injuries to working children in Cincinnati during 1926. 1927.
  4. Consumers' League of Cincinnati. What girls live on - and how. March 1930.
  5. Consumers' League of Eastern Pennsylvania. Occupations for Philadelphia girls. 2 pamphlets. Paper box-making, and Telephone operating. 1913.
  6. Consumers' League of New York. Behind the scenes in canneries. 1930.
  7. Consumers' League of New York. Behind the scenes in a hotel. 1922.
  8. Consumers' League of New York City. Behind the scenes in a restaurant. 1916.
  9. Consumers' League of New York. The fourth-eight hour law. 1927.
  10. Consumers' League of the City of New York. Report for the year. 1905, 1908.
  11. Consumers' League of New York. What next for New York's Joads? 1946.
  12. Consumers' League of Ohio. Accidents to working children of Ohio. 1927.
  13. Douglas, Dorothy W. American minimum wage laws at work. National Consumers' League, October 1920.
  14. Lauder, A. Estelle. Trailing behind or how Pennsylvania compares with other states in protective legislation... Philadelphia. 1922.
  15. Lauder, Estelle. Wanted: a new deal in place of the racketeering in workmen's compensation. 1934.
  16. Mann, Annette. Women workers in factories. Consumers' League of Cincinnati, August 1918.
  17. Mason, Lucy Randolph. Standards for workers in Southern industry. National Consumers' League, November 1931.
  18. Massachusetts. House. Special commission established to investigate laws relative to dependent, delinquent and neglected children ... January 1931.
  19. Merchants and manufacturers of Massachusetts. Executive committee. The minimum wage. A failing experiment. Boston, 1916.
  20. National Consumers' League. The Cave report on the British trade board acts 1909-1922. Comp. by Mary Dewson. February 1923.
  21. National Consumers' League. Wage and hour legislation in action. Addresses at the 38th annual meeting. 1938.
  22. New York. State university. Proceedings of a special conference on the education of employed youth. May 23-26, 1927.
  23. Pugh, Grace. Working women and children in Pennsylvania. Consumers' League of Eastern Pennsylvania. December 1923.
  24. Toledo Consumers' League. The floating world. 1927.
  25. Toledo Consumers' League. Toledo school children in street trades. 1922.
  26. U.S. Congress. House. Com. on interstate and foreign commerce. Hearing on H.R. 14070 Child welfare extension service. January 24-25, 1929.
  27. U.S. Congress. House. Comm. on interstate and foreign commerce. Hearing on S.255 and H.R.12995. January 20-22, 1931.
  28. U.S. Congress. House. Com. on the judiciary. Hearings on proposed child labor amendments... February 1924, March 1924.
  29. U.S. Congress. Senate. Com. on interstate commerce. Hearings on S. 592 and H.R. 1976, etc. To regulate the products of child labor. May, 1937.
  30. U.S. Congress. Senate. Subcommittee of the com. on the District of Columbia. Hearing on S.3843 to regulate the employment of minors. April, May, 1920.
  31. Waite, Edward F. "The Child labor amendment." repr. Minnesotta Law Review, February 1985.
  32. Walsh, Hon. Thomas J. Speech re child labor amendment. January 8, 1925.
  33. Willoughby, Marion M. Cleveland school children who sell on the streets: study.
  34. Woods, Nancy. Child labor in Massachusetts. Simmons studies in the social sciences, volume 1, number 1. September 1950

The following items have been removed from the collection. They were added to the Schlesinger Library book collection or donated to other Harvard libraries.
  1. Abbott, Edith. Historical aspects of the immigration problem. Chicago, 1926.
  2. Abbott, Grace. The child and the state. volume 1. legal status, Chicago, 1938.
  3. Abbott, Grace. The immigrant and the community. New York, Century, 1917.
  4. Addams, Jane. Newer ideals of peace. New York, Chautauqua Press, 1907.
  5. American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. Annals, May 1908 supplement, July, 1909, supplement, May 1911, supplement, March, 1927, supplement
  6. American Academy of Political Science. Proceedings. volume 1, number 1, October 1910, volume 8, number 2., February 1919.
  7. Ames, Lucia True. A popular fallacy. Boston, W.E.I.U., 1897. (W.E.I.U. leaflet, number 2.)
  8. Armstrong, Louise V., We too are the people. Boston, Little-Brown, 1938.
  9. Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Vocational training. A.C.A. Bulletin Number 1, 1913.
  10. Bosanquet, Helen. The family. London, Macmillan, 1906.
  11. Bostonian Society, Proceedings-annual meeting, January 1937.
  12. Bosworth, Louise Maria. Living wage of women workers. New York, Longmans, 1911.
  13. Bowen, Louise de Koven. Safeguards for city youth at work and at play. New York, Macmillan, 1914.
  14. Butler, Elizabeth Beardsley. Saleswomen in mercantile stores. Baltimore, 1909.
  15. Collins, Mary Whiton, 1863-1930. In memoriam.
  16. Woman's wrongs: a counter irritant by Gail Hamilton. Boston, Tichnor and Fields, 1868.
  17. Freeman, Flora Lucy. Our working-girls and how to help them. London, Mowbray, 1908.
  18. The Van Waters case. Boston, Friends of the Framingham Reformatory.
  19. Goldmark, Josephine. Fatigue and efficiency. New York, Survey Association, 1913.
  20. Hamilton, Alice. Exploring the dangerous trades. Boston, Little Brown, 1943.
  21. Hamilton, Alice and Hardy H.. Industrial toxicology. New York, Paul B. Hoeber, 1949.
  22. Hamilton, Mary Agnes. Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1933.
  23. Hare, C. Men and women of the Italian reformation. London, 1914.
  24. Hatcher, Orie Latham. Rural girls in the city for work: a study made for the Southern Woman's Education Alliance. Richmond, Garrett and Massin, 1906.
  25. Howes, Amy and Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics. Industrial home work in Massachusetts. Boston W.E.I.U., 1915.
  26. Higginson, T.W. Letters and journals, ed. Mary T. Higginson. Boston, 1921.
  27. Hill, Florence Davenport. Children of the state, ed. by Fanny Fowke, London, Macmillan, 1889.
  28. Hoerle, Helen Christens and Saltzberg, Florence. The girl and the job. New York, Holt, 1919.
  29. Homemaking as a center for research. Report of Teachers college conference on homemaking...1927. New York, Columbia Univ. Teachers College, 1927.
  30. Hull-House, maps and papers, a presentation of nationalities and wages...of Chicago by residents of Hull House. New York, Crowell, 1895.
  31. Hume, Mrs. R.S. Woman's wrongs: a history of Mary and Fidelia. Portland, B. Thurston, 1872.
  32. Hutchens, B.L. Women in modern industry. London, Bell, 1916.
  33. International Labor Organization. Women's work under labour law. A study of protective legislation. Geneva, I.L.O., 1932.
  34. Johnson, Ethel M. Country school-ma'am of the older days. Reprint from South Atlantic Quarterly, volume 48, number 3, July, 1949.
  35. Johnston, Sir Harry. Mrs. Warren's daughters, a story of the woman's movement. New York, Macmillan, 1920.
  36. Kelley, Florence. Modern Industry. New York, Longmans, 1914.
  37. Kellor, Frances A. Out of work. New York, Putnam, 1904.
  38. Kingsbury, Mary M., Socialism as an education and social force. Pub. of Christian Social Union, No. 49, May 15, 1898.
  39. Kingsley, Susan M., ed. Vocation for the trained woman...New York, Longmans, 1914.
  40. LaFollette, Robert M. Personal narrative of political experiences. Madison, Wisconsin, 1911-1913.
  41. LaFollette, Robert M. Political philosophy. Madison, Wisconsin, 1920.
  42. Levine, Louise. The women's garment workers. A history of the I.L.G.W.U., New York, Huebsch, 1924.
  43. The Long Day. The story of a New York working girl as told by herself. New York, Century, 1905.
  44. Lumpkin, Katharine Dupre and Douglas, Dorothy Wolfe. Child workers in America. New York, McBride, 1937.
  45. McKenney, Ruth. Industrial valley. New York, Harcourt-Brace, 1930.
  46. MacLean, Annie M. Women workers and society. Chicago, McClurg, 1916.
  47. Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women. 2nd annual report, 1897, 4th annual report, 1899.
  48. Massachusetts Commission on Industrial and Technical Education. Report, April, 1906. Boston, Wright and Potter, 1906.
  49. Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs. Industrial Commission. Laws affecting the employment of women and children in Massachusetts. September 1908.
  50. Miles, Henry A. Lowell, as it was, and as it is. Lowell, Nathaniel L. Dayton, 1846.
  51. New York Department of Labor. Women in industry. Women who work in New York, June 1941.
  52. Parloa, Maria. Home economics. New York, Century, 1898.
  53. Persons, Charles E., et al. Labor laws and their enforcement with special relation to Massachusetts. New York, Longmans, 1911.
  54. Pirulott, J.A.R. Toynbee Hall...1884-1931. London, 1935.
  55. Richmond, Mary E. The good neighbor in the modern city. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1907.
  56. Robinson, Harriet H. Massachusetts in the woman suffrage movement. Boston, 1881.
  57. Salmon, Lucy Maynard. Domestic service. London, MacMillan, 1897.
  58. Sheffield, Ada Eliot. Social insight in case situations. New York, Appleton, 1937.
  59. Smith, Mary Gove. Immigration as a source of supply for domestic workers: based on a study of conditional in Boston. 1906.
  60. Stevens, Bertha M. Boys and girls in commercial work. Cleveland Ohio: Survey committee of the Cleveland Foundation, 1916.
  61. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. History of wages in the United States from colonial times to 1928. Washington, 1929.
  62. U.S. Employment Service. Occupations suitable for women. U.S. employment Service, February, 1942.
  63. Van Kleeck, Mary. Creative America, its women for social security. New York, Covici-Fried 1952.
  64. Van Vorst, Mrs. John. The cry of the children, a study of child labor. New York, Moffat and Yard, 1908.
  65. Vorse, Mary Heaton. Labor's new millions. New York, Modern Age Books. 1938.
  66. Webb, Beatrice. My apprenticeship. New York, Longmans Green, 1926.
  67. West Side Studies: carried on under the direction of Pauline Goldmark. Cartwright, Otto G. The middle west side; Anthony, Katharine, Mothers must earn. New York Survey Association, 1914.
  68. Whitney, A.D.T., The law of woman life.
  69. Woods, Robert and Kennedy. Handbook of settlements. Russell Sage, 1911.
  70. Eaves, Lucille, et al. A legacy to wage-earning women... Boston, W.E.I.U., 1925.
  71. Dewson, Mary. New steps in social security legislation. Reprint from Social Service Review, volume 12, number 1, March 1938.
  72. Hewes, Amy. Women as munition makers. New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 1917.
  73. Marot, Helen. American Labor Unions. New York, Holt, 1914.
  74. Marot, Helen. Creative impulse in industry. New York, Dutton, 1918.
  75. Stanley, Maude. Clubs for working girls. London, Macmillan, 1890.

The following items have been removed from the collection:
  1. Alexander Hamilton Institute. Women in Industry. New York, The Institute, 1918.
  2. Arkansas Bureau of Labor. Wage-earning women. Bulletin #3, October 1914.
  3. Arnold, Sarah Louise. The story of the Sargent Industrial School at Beacon. New York, 1891-1916. Printed for the Scholars, 1917.
  4. Bass, Robert P. The 48-hour week for women and children; abstract of a statement before a Committee of the NLH. House. February 1923.
  5. Bronson, Minnie. Wage-earning woman and the state, comparison of laws for her protection in various states of the Union. Boston, Massachusetts association opposed to...suffrage for women, 1910.
  6. Brooks, John Graham. The Consumers' league. n.d.
  7. Commonwealth Club of California Transactions volume 6, number 2 June 1911 "Employers' liability and Woman Suffrage."
  8. Consumers' League of Massachusetts. Annual reports, 1918-1927. Incomplete, lacks 1902, 1904, 1910, 1911, 1915, 1920-1923. (18 numbers)
  9. Consumers' League of Massachusetts. Bulletins, Numbers 3-12, 14-15, 17-36. (32 numbers)
  10. Consumers' League of Massachusetts. Some types of industrial poisoning. Boston, Consumers' League, 1929.
  11. Dale, E. and Vernon, N. Consumer Education, an annotated bibliography...1941.
  12. Hedges, Anna Charlotte. Wage worth of school training: an analytical study of six hundred women in textile factories. New York. Columbia University, 1915.
  13. Hewes, Amy. Labor's aims in war and peace. New York, Commission to study the organization of peace. 1944.
  14. Joint Board of Sanitary Control. Annual Reports. 1911-1914, 1921-1923, 1925.
  15. Kentucky Commission to investigate the conditions of working women in Kentucky. Report, 1911.
  16. McCausland, Elizabeth. "The Blue Menace" from the Springfield Republican, 1929.
  17. McGovern, R.A. Woman and Industry. Washington, National Catholic Welfare Conference, n.d.
  18. Martin, Prestonia Mann. Prohibiting Poverty. Winter Park, Florida, 1932.
  19. Mason, Lucy Randolph. The shorter day and women workers. Richmond, Virginia. Virginia League of Women Voters, 1922.
  20. Massachusetts Association opposed to further extension of suffrage to women. 3rd annual report, 1898.
  21. Miller, Dickinson S. Mrs. Glendower Evans. Two memorial addresses. Boston, 1940.
  22. Mass. Council on women and children in industry. News letters, no 1-10, July 1923-September 1926.
  23. National Consumers League of America. Annual reports, 1899/1900, 1909/1910, 1912 1914/1916.
  24. National Consumers League of America. Bulletin, volume 1, number 2-volume 19, number 1, December 1934-Fall 1954 incomplete.
  25. National Industrial Conference Board. Wartime employment of women in the metal trade. Research report nunber 8, Kentucky 1918.
  26. New York (State) Department of Labor. Women in Industry. Miscellaneous article, 1943-1946 (mimeograph).
  27. New York (State) Department of Labor. Women in Industry. Special bulletins (6 numbers)
  28. Nienburg, Bertha N. Reemployment of New England women in private industry. Washington, Women's bureau, November 1, 1935. mimeograph.
  29. Penn. Bureau of women and children. Women workers after a plant shutdown. Special Bulletin number 36, 1933.
  30. Presbyterian Church-U.S.A. Martha in the modern age: a report on church women and household employment with suggestions for study and action. Philadelphia, 1940s.
  31. The Survey, volume 33, number 19 Feb 1915 Special number re Minimum wage, edited by Florence Kelley.
  32. United States Children's bureau Bulletins, numbers 89, 213, 218, 202, 215, 1922-1946.
  33. United Women's Bureau News letters, 1928-1937 (incomplete).
  34. United Women's Bureau. A brief history of the N.Y. minimum wage case. Wash 1936 mimeograph.
  35. United Women's Bureau. Household employment. November 1940 mimeograph.
  36. United Women's Bureau. Progress of women in U.S. 1949-1951, report prepared for Mary Cannon, United Delegate to Inter-Amer. Comm. 1951 mimeograph.
  37. United Women's Bureau. Report of the Women Leaders program. August 1949 mimeograph.
  38. United Women's Bureau. State laws of special value to women, January 1, 1950 mimeograph.
  39. United Women's Bureau. Status of women in the U.S, 1952 mimeograph.
  40. United Women's Bureau. Women union leaders speak. Women's bureau, Conference 1945 mimeograph.
  41. Williams, Talcott. Labor a hundred years ago. New York Society for political education 1888. (Economic tracts, number 24.)
  42. The Woman Worker published bi-monthly by the United States Women's Bureau (3 numbers).
  43. Woman's land army of America. Handbook of standards for the W.L.A.A. 1919.
  44. Women's educational and industrial union and Massachusetts State Federation of Women's Clubs Simplified statement of laws affecting the employment of women and children in Mass. November 1906.
  45. Y.W.C.A. - Central Branch - Employment Department. Executive and technical women in factories: survey of factories, 1919-1920. New York 1920.
  46. Pamphlets, etc., from the Consumers' League of Connecticut.
  47. Consumers' League of Connecticut. A glance at some European and American Vocational schools for children from 12-16 years of age. Hartford, Conn Consumers' League of Connecticut 1911.
  48. Consumers' League of Connecticut. Leaflet series, numbers 1-3, 5-10, 12, 14-33, 35-36 (1908-1928).
  49. Consumers' League of Connecticut. Pamphlet series, numbers 2, 4-18 (1910-1928).
  50. Diamond, Herbert M. Street trading among Connecticut grammar school children. Report of Commission on child welfare, supplement number Hartford 1921.
  51. Industrial News letter published by Industrial Relations Club, taken over by Consumers' League of Connecticut in 1942 number 2: March 1935-December 1949. (Incomplete.)
  52. Studley, Jeannette. Standard budget for women workers in Connecticut.... Hartford, Connecticut 1938.
  53. United States Children's Bureau. Physical standards of working children. Bulletin number 79.
  54. Welles, Mary C. 1860-1930. In memoriam. Hartford, Consumers' League of Connecticut, 1930.
Link to catalog

Subjects

Related Names

Administrative Information

Title
Consumers' League of Massachusetts. Records of the Consumers' League of Massachusetts, 1891-1955: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00527

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

Contact:
3 James St.
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
617-495-8540

Powered by ArchivesSpace
© 2020 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Accessibility Privacy Harmful Language Statement
Report a Problem Help