Proceedings of the Women's Industrial Conference
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L7J.J <> - ^Ji U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JAMES J. DAVIS, SECRETARY WOMEN'S BUREAU MARY ANDERSON, Director BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN'S BUREAU, NO. 33 PROCEEDINGS OF THE WOMEN'S INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE Called by the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor Washington, D. C. January 11,12, and 13,1923 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1923 State Teachers College Library, Digitized for FRASER Cape Girardeau, [via. http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis [H. R. 13229.] AN ACT To establish in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the Women's Bureau. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established in the Department of Labor a bureau to be known as the Women's Bureau. SEC. 2. That the said bureau shall be in charge of a director, a woman, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall receive an annual compensation of $5,000. It shall be the duty of said bureau to formulate standards and policies which shall promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency, and advance their opportunities for profitable employment. The said bureau shall have authority to investigate and report to the said department upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of women in industry. The director of said bureau may from time to time pub- lish the results of these investigations in such a manner and to such extent as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe. SEC. 8. That there shall be in said bureau an assistant director to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, who shall receive an annual compensation of $3,500 and shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by the director and approved by the Secretary of Labor. SEC. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be employed by said bureau a chief clerk and such special agents, assistants, clerks, and other employees at such rates of compensation and in such numbers as Congress may from time to time provide by appropriations. SEC. 5. That the Secretary of Labor is hereby directed to furnish sufficient quarters, office furniture, and equipment for the work of this bureau. SEC. 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved, June 5, 1920. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JAMES J. DAVIS, SECRETARY WOMEN'S BUREAU MARY ANDERSON, Director BULLETIN OF THE WOMEN'S BUREAU, NO. 33 PROCEEDINGS OF THE WOMEN'S INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE Called by the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor Washington, D. C. January 11, 12, and 13, 1923 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1923 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS- Page. Letter of transmittal v Call to the conference vi Letter of indorsement by the Secretary of Labor VII Program of the conference VIII List of delegates who attended the conference ix Thursday, January 11, 1923—Morning Session. Hon. James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor 2 Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton 11 Thursday, January 11, 1923—Afternoon Session. WHAT WOMEN WORKERS MEAN TO INDUSTRY. Mr. Charles Cheney 16 Miss Marjr Gilson 66 WHAT INDUSTRY MEANS TO WOMEN WORKERS. Miss Mary Van Kleeck 24 Mrs. Raymond Robins 34 Friday, January 12, 1923—Morning Session. HOME WORK. Mrs. Florence Kelley 47 HEALTH STANDARDS FOR WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. Dr. R. A. Spaeth 52 Friday, January 12,1923—Afternoon Session. WOMEN'S WAGES. Mrs. Maud Swartz 78 Miss Sophomisba P. Breckinridge 85 Saturday, January 13, 1923—Morning Session. LABOR LEGISLATION FOR WOMEN. Miss Melinda Scott 110 Miss Merica Hoagland 120 Saturday, January 13, 1923—Afternoon Session. General discussion 136 Saturday, January 13, 1923—Evening Session. THE NEED FOR WOMEN TO ENFORCE WOMEN'S LABOR LAWS. Miss Tracy Copp 171 Mrs. James J. Devitt 174 Miss Agmes Nestor 178 Miss Mary McDowell 184 iii Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, WOMEN'S BUREAU, Washington, July 20, 1923. SIR: There is transmitted herewith a copy of the proceedings of the Women's Industrial Conference called by the Women's Bureau in the United States Department of Labor, Washington, D. C., Jan uary 11, 12, and 13, 1923. Reports of all the formal speeches have been submitted to the speakers for their approval or have been furnished by the speakers themselves, and the records of the discussions from the floor have been carefully gone over to insure that they are intelligible and complete. MARY ANDERSON, Director. Hon. JAMES J. DAVIS, Secretary of Labor. • Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CALL TO THE CONFERENCE. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, WOMEN'S BUREAU, Washington, November 1922. You are cordially invited to send a representative to a conference called by the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor for the purpose of discussing problems of women in industry. According to the last report of the Bureau of the Census we have over eight and a half million women in gainful occupations. This means that every fourth worker is a woman. The Women's Bureau is charged with the responsibility of developing policies and stand- ards and conducting investigations in the industries of the country which shall safeguard the interests of women workers and thus make their service effective for the national good. In fulfilling this obli- gation we feel that a conference of women including representation from all national organizations of women and other interested groups would go far not only to focus attention on the problems involved but to help in the development of policies and standards for the effective employment of women in industry. The recognition of the national and international importance of labor conditions is a paramount need, since the Nation depends for its prosperity upon the efficiency of its workers. No other foundation for commercial success will be so sure as the conservation of prac- tices in industry which make for the health and well-being of the women workers and also assure efficiency in the industries. It is with this in mind that we are calling this conference and urge the fullest participation by the women of the country. We are especially desirous that your organization be represented and trust that a woman member will be delegated to attend this conference. The conference will be held in the New National Museum, Tenth and B Streets NW., Washington, D. C., January 11,12, and 13,1923. Sincerely yours, MARY ANDERSON, Director. VI Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LETTER OF INDORSEMENT BY THE SECRETARY OF LABOR. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, November 17, 1922. DEAR MISS ANDERSON : I am writing to express my hearty approval of your plans for calling a nation-wide conference of women under the auspices of the Women's Bureau of this department for the pur- pose of discussing the problems of women in industry. It appears from census figures that approximately one-fourth of the wage earners of America are women, and apparently the propor- tion is increasing rather than diminishing. Every thinking Ameri- can must realize that this situation creates a number of special problems and calls for careful consideration of ways and means for safeguarding the mothers and the potential mothers of the Na- tion who must so be employed. It is impossible to separate entirely the problems of our motherhood from the problems of our child- hood, and there is nothing more important in our civilization than the protection of both of these in their strength and purity. The future of the Nation depends on this more than on any other single factor. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I approve of your plans for calling a three days' conference for such days in January, 1923, as in your judgment may be most appropriate. Very sincerely yours, JAMES J. DAVIS, Secretary. Miss MARY ANDERSON, Director Womerts Bureau, Department of Labor, Washington, D. C. vn Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis PROGRAM. January 11—Morning session, 10.S0 a. m. Miss Mary Anderson, Director of the Women's Bureau, presiding. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. (If public duties do not interfere.) Hon. JAMES J. DAVIS, Secretary of Labor. Afternoon session, 2 p. m. Hon. Edward J. Henning, Assistant Secretary of Labor, presiding. WHAT WOMEN WORKERS MEAN TO INDUSTRY. Mr. Charles Cheney, of Cheney Bros., South Manchester, Conn., represent- ing the National Association of Manufacturers. Miss Mary Gilson, superintendent of employment and service department, the Joseph & Feiss Co., Cleveland, Ohio. WHAT INDUSTRY MEANS TO WOMEN WORKERS. Miss Mary Van Kleeck, Director, department of industrial studies, Russell Sage Foundation; former Director of the Women's Bureau, United States Department of Labor. Mrs. Raymond Robins, president of the International Federation of Work- ing Women. January 12—Morning session, 9.30 a. m. Mrs. Ellis Yost, legislative representative Women's Christian Temperance Union, presiding. HEALTH STANDARDS FOR WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. Dr. R. A. Spaeth, associate professor department of physiology, school of hygiene and public health, Johns Hopkins University. HOME WORK.