mnsss80 Consumers' League of Kentucky Records, 1901-1951 (bulk 1901-1941) Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by mnsss. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College
Northampton, MA
2003

Smith College. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Laura Cutter. 2003-06-12 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mnsss80 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College Consumers' League of Kentucky Records, 1901-1951 (bulk 1901-1941) Finding Aid MS 323 1988, revised 2002 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003 Smith College. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Consumers' League of Kentucky Consumers' League of Kentucky Records1901-1951 1901-1941 MS 323 2 boxes, microfilm (1 linear ft.) Sophia Smith Collection
Smith College Northampton, MA
The Consumers' League of Kentucky, includes histories and reports, printed materials, correspondence, and minutes. Child labor, compulsory education, working conditions, minimum wage, and social security were among the state legislative topics that the League addressed. English. Historical Note

Brochure about Consumer's League of Kentucky, 1914

The Consumers' League of Kentucky was organized in Louisville on January 31, 1901 with the goal of using their power as consumers to improve wages and working conditions for women and children. The state organization was affiliated with the National Consumers' League, founded eleven years earlier. Ann Ainslie Halleck was the League's first president and served in that post until 1930 when Anna Hubbuch Settle succeeded her, serving until 1944. The League sought to remedy poor working and living conditions by addressing laborers' health and education, by influencing public opinion, and by introducing and supporting favorable legislation. The League also observed and verified the state's enforcement of labor laws, in particular through its support for the establishment of factory inspection offices, the reorganization of the state labor department, and the work of the Department of Industrial Relations. The League wrote its own model industrial sanitation code, founded a vocational school in Louisville, and consistently supported industrial education.

Some of the League's most important work included the establishment of a vocational school; campaigns for early Christmas shopping and shorter shopping hours; and helping to legislate compulsory education, the ten hour law for women, and the minimum wage law. The League also undertook its own investigations into the living and working conditions of women laborers. The Consumer's League of Kentucky also was involved in state and national committees. Representatives from the League served on the Advisory Board of the Commissioner of Agriculture, reorganized the State Department of Labor and were the first women labor inspectors. During World War I, Ainslie Halleck served on the Council of National Defense's Committee of Women in Industry. During the Great Depression the League also had representatives on the Women's Division of the National Recovery Project and participated in the creation of the Social Security Program. In the 1930's and 1940's, the League fought against the Equal Rights Amendment both locally and nationally.

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Consumers' League of Kentucky Records cover the period from 1901 to 1951. Types of material include histories and reports, printed materials, correspondence, and minutes. The records of the Consumers League of Kentucky consist of 1 linear foot of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, reference material, and histories. The minutes reflect the overall activities of the League during its first forty years of existence as it worked to inform public opinion and lobbied for legislation. Child labor, compulsory education, working conditions, minimum wage, and social security were among the state legislative topics that the League addressed. The majority of the correspondence, generated by President Anna H. Settle, deals with the League's work in supporting Kentucky's minimum wage law (1938-41).

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into two series:

I. Administration and History II. Minutes and Reports Additional Formats Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The records are open for research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any additional restrictions.

The copyright owner of this collection is unknown. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Consumers' League of Kentucky Records, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

 Additional Formats

This collection is also available on microfilm; in Sophia Smith Collection and through interlibrary loan.

History of the Collection

The records were assembled and sent to the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, in 1967 by Marguerite Marsh of Louisville, a League member, treasurer (1919-21), and executive secretary (1922-23).

Reprocessed in 2002 by Jessica Petocz, student assistant.

 Search Terms Child labor--Kentucky--History--Sources Consumer education--United States--History--Sources Industrial hygiene--Kentucky--History--Sources Labor laws and legislation--Kentucky--History--Sources Minimum wage--Kentucky--History--Sources Women--Employment--Kentucky--History--Sources Working class--Kentucky--History--Sources Consumers' League of Kentucky--History--Sources Halleck, Ann Ainslie, d. 1946 Settle, Anna Hubbuck, d. 1951 Additional Information Related Material

National Consumers' League Records are at the Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division, Washington, D.C.

SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION AND HISTORY 1 1 Constitution, n.d., 1925 1 2 Histories, 1914-1941 1 3 Reports and programs, 1915-1946 Correspondence 1 4 General, 1939-51 1 5 Clothing workers, 1940-41 1 6 Laundry workers (includes reference material), 1938-43 1 7-8 Minimum wage (includes reference material), 1938-44 1 9 Industrial Sanitation Code SERIES II. MINUTES AND REPORTS 1 10 31 Jan 1901-17 Nov 1908 1 11 24 Nov 1908-10 March 1919 1 12 8 May 1919-25 Apr 1922 2 1 15 May 1922-14 Apr 1925 2 2 28 Apr 1925-10 Apr 1929 2 3 28 Jun 1929-23 Mar 1933 2 4 16 May 1933-14 Apr 1937 2 5 12 May 1937-28 Apr 1941 ADDITIONAL FORMATS 3 Microfilm (negatives and preservation copies)

[Please use research copies in Media center, M 42 (2 reels)]