Anti-Child Labor Float, Portland, Maine, ca. 1905. Courtesy of the Maine Historical Society.
Anti-Child Labor Float, Portland, Maine, ca. 1905. Courtesy of the Maine Historical Society.
The number of periodicals targeting the upper and middle-classes proliferated by 1900. Writers shocked their readers by exposing the difficult lives that children experienced in the labor force.
Once aware of the problem, groups such as the National Consumer's League and the Federation of Women's Clubs began organizing to reform child labor laws.
This parade float, with its schoolroom scene, illustrates the primary argument that reformers used. Children needed to attend school to achieve a brighter future. Factory work at young ages would only lead to future factory labor.