Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The March of the Mill Children

While our town square is known for boutiques (and mass yoga), that bottom left sign marks another chapter...

...The 1903 anti-child labor "March of the Mill Children" made a stop here, led by activist Mary "Mother" Jones. "Mother Jones showed the crowd James Ashworth, who was 10 years old and stooped over like an old man from carrying bundles of yarn that weighed 75 pounds."
***
The march drew much attention: New Jersey State passed its first child labor law in 1906, a decade before the U.S. passed its first such national law.

12 comments:

cieldequimper said...

We've come a long way, haven't we?

Your town square is gorgeous!

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

We've come a long way in our wealthy and privileged part of the world. to be a little more precise.

LOLfromPasa said...

'Power to the People/Children'. Very interesting and informative, Lulu. Silk Mills fill the Coventry history books. You have raised and interesting question in my mind. Something new to focus on when I am doing genealogy searches here. You have done well to create a link between the past and present in your town square. I love the occasional history lessons.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I agree with Ciel your town square looks like a green and friendly place Lulu. Unfortunately I'm sure there are a lot of parts of the world where the anti child labour laws don't mean a thing.

Jenny Woolf said...

I didn't know child labour laws were passed so late - and what an inspiring plaque!

Tanya Breese said...

incredible...our children have a lot to be thankful for these days!

reflective eassy writing said...

i agree with tanya .... children should be thankful !

Randy said...

Nice looking town square.

LONDONLULU said...

cieldequimper - thanks! It's a nice square to watch the world go by. :) It's incredible how much has changed here with child labor laws!

John - alas, it's true. We are privileged but many around the world much less so.

LOLfromPasa - that is so cool, the genealogy records in the UK are in pretty decent shape too, it seems! I know folks who've had surprisingly good luck discovering things about there family there, including in your neck of the woods!

PerthDailyPhoto - thanks! The square's a nice retreat, but it's sadly true that child laborers in parts of the world have little protection.

Jenny - I was also shocked to find out how long it took to get child labor laws passed here. It inspired me to do some quick googling, seems the UK was a century ahead of the States!

Tanya - children here are so much luckier today, aren't they! I can't imagine what it must've been like.

reflective - true!

Randy - thanks! We're lucky to have it, though you've a great central spot in Santa Fe!

Adele said...

What a beautiful place, and such interesting history. I'm guessing this is where the name of the magazine comes from?

EG CameraGirl said...

YIKES! It's hard to believe children were treated so badly just a little more than a century ago!

Leeds daily photo said...

It is easy to forget that many of the rights that are taken for granted by many people were the result of some people being prepared to stand up and fight for them. Today we see it as disgraceful that 9 and 10 year olds worked in factories, but the owners did not see a problem with children of that age working 12 hour days.