An Amendment to the Constitution is Needed to Give the United States Power to Safeguard the Child Life of the Nation
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Title
An Amendment to the Constitution is Needed to Give the United States Power to Safeguard the Child Life of the Nation
Description
Pamphlet advocating for the Child Labor Amendment, passed in 1924, but never ratified.
Cover cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper cartoonist John T. McCutcheon.
[Image description] Two child laborers operate machinery. Above them is a cloud showing that they are daydreaming about frolicking outside with a dog. Beneath the cloud are the words "Lost Childhood". A rich older man in a suit looks at the children while rubbing his hands together greedily. The text below indicates that this man represents the "Employer of Child Labor". Above him is a cloud showing that he is daydreaming about sitting in the back of a large, expensive automobile that is parked in front of a mansion. Beneath the cloud are the words "Financial Gains". At the bottom of the cartoon is text that says "What child labor and its employer think about".
Text from back of pamphlet:
A federal minimum will give to American Children all the advantages of our federal form of government.
Every state may wish to give its children greater protection than a national minimum would provide.
Is any state willing to give them less?
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The following organizations issue this appeal for the passage of a Children's Amendment by the next Congress:
American Federation of Labor
Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America
General Federation of Women's Clubs
Girls Friendly Society in America
National Child Labor Committee
National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations
National Consumers' League
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Women, Inc.
National Education Association
National Federation of Teachers
National Federation of Businesses and Professional Women's Clubs
National League of Women Voters
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union
National Women's Trade Union League
Service Star Legion
Young Woman's Christian Association.
Cover cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper cartoonist John T. McCutcheon.
[Image description] Two child laborers operate machinery. Above them is a cloud showing that they are daydreaming about frolicking outside with a dog. Beneath the cloud are the words "Lost Childhood". A rich older man in a suit looks at the children while rubbing his hands together greedily. The text below indicates that this man represents the "Employer of Child Labor". Above him is a cloud showing that he is daydreaming about sitting in the back of a large, expensive automobile that is parked in front of a mansion. Beneath the cloud are the words "Financial Gains". At the bottom of the cartoon is text that says "What child labor and its employer think about".
Text from back of pamphlet:
A federal minimum will give to American Children all the advantages of our federal form of government.
Every state may wish to give its children greater protection than a national minimum would provide.
Is any state willing to give them less?
------
The following organizations issue this appeal for the passage of a Children's Amendment by the next Congress:
American Federation of Labor
Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America
General Federation of Women's Clubs
Girls Friendly Society in America
National Child Labor Committee
National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations
National Consumers' League
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Women, Inc.
National Education Association
National Federation of Teachers
National Federation of Businesses and Professional Women's Clubs
National League of Women Voters
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union
National Women's Trade Union League
Service Star Legion
Young Woman's Christian Association.
Source
Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Publisher
Allied Printing
Contributor
Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Rights
This item is in the public domain. Acknowledgement of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Notes
Learn more:
National Child Labor Committee, Social Welfare History Project
Child Labor, Social Welfare History Project
Children Who Labor - film (1912), Social Welfare History Project
National Child Labor Committee, Social Welfare History Project
Child Labor, Social Welfare History Project
Children Who Labor - film (1912), Social Welfare History Project
Collection
Citation
“An Amendment to the Constitution is Needed to Give the United States Power to Safeguard the Child Life of the Nation,” Social Welfare History Image Portal, accessed April 25, 2024, https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/items/show/9.