Daycares in chicago il: Willow Tree Child Care

In-Home Daycare and Group Home Child Care in Chicago IL

The Chicago home daycare options below are dedicated to providing families
with quality home childcare in a safe and nurturing environment. Group home daycares are personable alternatives to large
centers with hundreds of children. Entrusting your family childcare to a Chicago home
daycare gives children the added security of being cared for in a home environment while still giving parents the peace of mind
that comes from knowing their children are under the supervision of licensed professionals. We gathered the information for home
childcare centers in Chicago into one place in order to help simplify your search
and make it more enjoyable. Since home daycare information can change often, please help us stay up to date by letting us know
if any of the information on our childcare providers is out of date or incorrect. We want to give you the right information
every time.

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Ameenah & Khalifah’s Learning Tree

Central Park & Walnut, Chicago, IL 60624 | (773) 731-4079

Our program caters to infants, toddler, preschool and school aged children. We have a Creative Curriculum that we follow with STEM activities to help children learn through imagination, creativity and play. Hours:Mon-Friday 6am-12am

Charming Children Daycare

N. Lockwood (austin Area), Chicago, IL 60644 | (773) 417-4502

Charming Children Daycare offers child care located in the heart of Austin Community in Chicago, Illinois. Serving children from infancy to age 12, quality care is provided using a proven and highly effective system that combines academics and play. Before and …

SARGENT, JENNIFER L

S Paxton Ave, Chicago, IL 60617 | (773) 437-5183

Jennifer’s Joyful Journeys is an upscale licensed home-based, quality childcare service where we provide care for children 0-12 years old. We specialize in infants, toddlers, and children with special needs. We currently have full-time and part-time openings available. …

Arco Iris Home Daycare

Seeley , Chicago, IL 60636 | (224) 310-0078

My mission is to provide a high quality, healthy and safe service for children, respecting each of their individual characteristics of each child, recognizing their achievements and emphasizing the learning potential of each of them, as well as helping children . ..

BURTON, DE CARLA L

8168 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60617 | (773) 206-9451

Jump Smart Learning Academy Inc. is a licensed certified nature outdoor classroom that offers quality care for families that have children ages 2 through 8 years old.  Our teachers have degrees in Early Childhood and our program won the Kohl McCormick Teaching …

GARCIA, MARYELING

5209 N Winthrop Ave, Chicago, IL 60640 | (773) 943-0563

As an innovative group of child care facilities we are able to offer you and your child the best the day care industry has to offer. Careful research and planning has gone into every detail to ensure that your child gets the most out of their time with us.

Healthy Start Home Daycare

8600 S. Marquette , Chicago, IL 60617 | (773) 309-1548

Hi, my name is Tammy and My Licensed Daycare home locate on 86th & Marquette has immediate openings for children ages 0 to 12 years old. Hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 6:00 a.m-12:00 a.m. Affordable weekly and daily rates. Have many years of experience. …

JACKSON, BRIDGETTE S

Judy Ct, Chicago, IL 60452 | (312) 383-9225

My Little Busy Bee’s Childcare have been in business for 4 years now. I am I license home daycare provider that loves her job. I have my associates degree in Early Childhood Education. I been in the childcare field since I was 19yrs old. We do Pick up, drop …

Latoya’s Love For Learning Home Daycare

115 E 59th St, Chicago, IL 60637 | (312) 569-2308

My name is Latoya Hill and I am the owner/director at Latoya’s Love for Learning Home Daycare. I have 10 years of experience being a preschool working in child care centers across chicago. I have my Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education. I have my CPR/First …

LEE STAPLETON, CASSANDRA

S Bell Ave, Chicago, IL 60636 | (773) 824-1697

Hello I’m Cassandra, I’m the owner that operates Chess 4 Jewels Licensed Home Base Daycare, We serves infants ages 0 weeks 12 years, We are mandated by DCFS to be certified in CPR & First Aid. We are located in the Englewood neighborhood off of Western …

Legacy Academy Simpsonville

600 W Division, Chicago, IL 60610 | (872) 703-6986

Legacy Academy offers the best preschool and educational daycare in Simpsonville. Our Simpsonville daycare location offers educational childcare for children ages six weeks to four years, along with before and after school programs for children up to twelve years old.

LOPEZ, MARGARITA

S Trumbull Ave, Chicago, IL 60629 | (773) 306-8452

At “Nuevo Amanecer,” we believe that children have the ability to learn if they are provided with a safe environment where they can express and develop their cognitive, physical, social, emotional and language skills. We understand that each child learns differently: …

NIEVES, LINNETTE C

5647 N Magnolia Ave, Chicago, IL 60660 | (773) 317-9900

NIEVES, LINNETTE C is a Day Care Home in CHICAGO IL, with a maximum capacity of 12 children. The home-based daycare service helps with children in the age range of 6W TO 12Y. The provider also participates in a subsidized child care program.

PEULIC, BILJANA

662 W Roscoe St, Chicago, IL 60657 | (773) 592-5803

As a parent considiring full time day care, you need to feel confidante that your child will be taken care by childcare providers you can trust like family. That’s exactly what you’ll find at Icare. You are invited into a safe and secure “home away from home” were …

RANDLE, ROBIN G

W 83rd St, Chicago, IL 60620 | (773) 329-9649

First Minds Chicago supports the motto “where uniqueness is embraced” and we appreciate the entire family makeup of each individual child. Children are encouraged to learn by embracing their differences and appreciating the differences of others.

STARKS, CAROL

S Indiana Ave # 1, Chicago, IL 60637 | (773) 224-4147

I currently have 8 day slot open and 8 night slot open as of June 2013. I currently have no infants (2 slots are open).  I use creative curriculum and Hook-On Phonics for educational learning. Homemade meals are served-no pork products. We have wonderful …

THOMAS, PAVELLA A

S State St, Chicago, IL 60619 | (773) 709-5884

Learning and fun for little ones! Breakfast, Lunch, PM snack and Dinner, transportation provided, potty training assistance, field trips, multi child discounts and weekend care.  Enroll today! [email protected] [email protected] 773-709-5884

THURMAN, SHARON L

S Winchester Ave, Chicago, IL 60636 | (773) 351-4966

New Beginnings Day Care 

WRIGHT, DESHANTE M

S Richmond St, Chicago, IL 60652 | (773) 682-0012

We Provide quality childcare for ages  6wk-12yrs. Our main focus is nurturing each child in our care, social emotional development, and of course learning. Your child will be exposed to a safe, clean , fun learning environment. We are home based with a modern …

ABC KIDZ Academy home day care

6053 S. Artesian Ave., Chicago, IL 60629 | (312) 972-0745

License Day Care Provider for 20 years Accredited by NAFCC Star level 3. Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education pursuing my Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood Education; Love children

ALVAREZ, VANESSA

E 112th St, Chicago, IL 60617 | (773) 441-7682

At Green Sprouts Academy children learn the love of learning with gentle guidance and fun experiences. We offer: Spanish immersion program Reading skills and reading from 6 weeks Math in a fun interactive way Science daily. Including Science experiments. …

CASTILLO, ANA D

1135 N Monticello Ave, Chicago, IL 60651 | (773) 278-6182

We have open enrollment. We offer daycare services for children who qualify for Child Care Subdiary help to pay for day care from Action for Children.   We also offer private slots for children.  Estamos abiertos a recibir a nuevo ninos. Servimos a ninos con ayuda …

CONTRERAS, KATHERINE

5240 W Wellington Ave, Chicago, IL 60641 | (773) 729-0299

Hi, I’m Katie. I have been working with children and running my own home childcare center for over 10 years. The world is changing and our children are learning so rapidly that we must adapt to our surroundings and their standards. I work with all ages, as young …

CRUZ, IVETTE

5110 N Avers Ave, Chicago, IL 60625 | (773) 588-9415

Iliette’s Home Day Care is a nurturing and loving, licensed home day care for children 6 weeks to 12 years old on the north side of Chicago.

CUECHA, MARIA D

5240 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60641 | (304) 276-9657

Welcome to Mi Mundo de Aventuras, Inc. My Home Day Care Group offers you and your child a safe and enjoyable developmental program. I appreciate and value your trust as you place your child with me and my staff for care. I want to provide an environment …

DIMING, SARAH J

1810 N Mulligan Ave, Chicago, IL 60639 | (773) 622-2712

Sarah’s Christian Group Day Care Home….Licensed by the State of Illinois… Certified by DCFS…. CPR and First Aid…. 20 Year Experience… Early Childhood Development: Concordia University … Certified Math Teacher on the Premises (Providing Tutoring by Appointment …

HAGGARD, EARLINE

W Gladys Ave Bsmt, Chicago, IL 60624 | (872) 214-0235

HAGGARD, EARLINE is a Day Care Home in CHICAGO IL, with a maximum capacity of 5 children. The home-based daycare service helps with children in the age range of 6W TO 12Y. The provider also participates in a subsidized child care program.

HEARD, ERIKA M

S Spaulding Ave, Chicago, IL 60652 | (773) 444-8049

At Rock a Bye Baby daycare our mission is to provide a safe, clean, and loving environment, where your child can learn and grow.  

Kiddie City Home Daycare

92nd Calumet , Chicago, IL 60619 | (773) 554-5630

Kiddie City Home Daycare, is open from 6:00am-12:00am. We accept children 6weeks-12years old. We are liscensed through DCFS. At Kiddie City your child is family, we offer a wide range of activities in loving home environment. Nutrious meals,potty training,gross …

LASLEY, VALERIE A

S Bennett Ave, Chicago, IL 60617 | (773) 316-0363

Daily Activities, Learning Curriculm, Computer technology, Field Trips Nutritional Meals all in a loving enviroment. Low or No Co-Pay call for details.

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Daycares in Chicago, IL

There are 1210 childcares in Chicago, Illinois. If you need more daycares you can also use find daycare centers near me.

Cornerstone Children’s Learning Center	1111 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610	Preschool
Kids Future Day Care Center	4848 N Sheridan Rd Unit 103, Chicago IL 60640, Chicago, IL 60640	Preschool
Lincoln Park KinderCare	1733 N Marcey St, Chicago, IL 60614	Preschool
North Elston KinderCare	3855 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60618	Preschool
Resurrection Child Care Center	7435 W Talcott Ave, Chicago, IL 60631	Center
South Loop KinderCare	1501 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605	Preschool
Sprouts Academy Preschool	350 W. Ontario, Chicago, IL 60654	Preschool
University Children’s Center	446 E Ontario St Ste 150, Chicago, IL 60611	Center
1st Lutheran Head Start Program Logan Square YMCA	3500 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60647	Preschool
79th Street Day Care	3728 W 79th St, Chicago, IL 60652	Preschool
A Caring World	4310 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60639	Center
A Child’s Place Academy	1508 E 63RD ST, Chicago, IL 60637	Center
A Child’s Space Early Literacy & Learning Center	1020 S Wabash Ave Ste 100, Chicago, IL 60605	Preschool
A Child’s World Early Learning Center	2145 E 83rd St, Chicago, IL 60617	Center
A Karrasel Nursery School & Kindergarten	3030 N Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60618	Preschool
A Mother’s Touch Childcare Center	1505 N Pulaski Rd, Chicago, IL 60651	Center
A Step Ahead Day Care Center Nursery	4208-20 N. broadway, Chicago, IL 60613	Preschool
A Whizz Kids Preschool #2	2600 E 83rd St, Chicago, IL 60617	Center
A-Karrasel Child Care Center	3420 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60647	Preschool
A-Zmall World Child Development Center	2629 S Lawndale Ave, Chicago, IL 60623	Center
A-karrasel Preschool	5510 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60639	Preschool
Abc & Me Daycare Center	1100 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60640	Center
Abc & Me Toddler Center	1108 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60640	Center
Abc Academy	2714 W Pratt Blvd, Chicago, IL 60645	Center
Abc Preschool	3800 N Austin Ave, Chicago, IL 60634	Center
Abcd Academy For Children	4910 W Addison St, Chicago, IL 60634	Center
Abraham Lincoln Center – School Age	3858 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60653	Center
Abraham Lincoln Centre – Carefare Daycare	3858 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60653	Preschool
Abraham Lincoln Centre – Hope	3858 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60653	Center
Abraham Lincoln Centre – King Day Care Center	4314 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60653	Preschool
Abraham Lincoln Centre Roseland Headstart	7 E 119th St, Chicago, IL 60628	Preschool
Abundance of Love Day Care	6420 S Cottage Grove Ave # 22, Chicago, IL 60637	Center
Acad of St Benedict The African Preschool	6547 S Stewart Ave, Chicago, IL 60621	Preschool
Academy of Early Education	126 E 113th St, Chicago, IL 60628	Center
Academy of Scholastic Achievement	4651 W Madison St, Chicago, IL 60644	Preschool
Academy of St Benedict Preschool	6020 S Laflin St, Chicago, IL 60636	Preschool
Ada S Mckinley Maggie Drummond Mem DCC	4301 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60653	Preschool
Ada S. Mckinley Wright Renaissance Child Care Center	7939 S Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60620	Preschool
Addams Elementary School Preschool	10810 S Avenue H, Chicago, IL 60617	Preschool
Adler Schools	2239 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625	Center
Agassiz Elementary School Preschool	2851 N Seminary Ave, Chicago, IL 60657	Preschool
Ahadi Early Learning Center	2255 E 71st St, Chicago, IL 60649	Center
Akiba-Schechter Day School Preschool	5235 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615	Preschool
Albany Child Care Center	520 N Halsted St Apt 412, Chicago, IL 60642	Center
Albany Park Community Day Care Center	3401 W. Ainslie, Chicago, IL 60625	Preschool
Albany Park Headstart	5121 N Kimball Ave, Chicago, IL 60625	Preschool
Alcott Elementary School Preschool	2625 N Orchard St, Chicago, IL 60614	Preschool
All Aboard Learning Express	4008 W Rosemont Ave, Chicago, IL 60646	Center
All About Kids Learning Academy	514 E 75th St, Chicago, IL 60619	Center
All Day Montessori	1819 W 99th St, Chicago, IL 60643	Preschool
Allison’s Infant & Toddler Center	234 E 115th St, Chicago, IL 60628	Preschool
Allison’s Infant & Toddler Center	5522 S Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60636	Preschool
Alma’s Child Day Care Center	Po Box 201654, Chicago, IL 60620	Center
Alpha Learning Center	8422 S Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60620	Preschool
Alphonsus Academy & Center For Arts Preschool	1439 W Wellington Av, Chicago, IL 60657	Preschool
Altgeld Elementary School Preschool	1340 W 71st St, Chicago, IL 60636	Preschool
Amazing Grace Day Care Center	11123 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60628	Center
Amazing Grace Kids Palace	2368 E 69TH ST, Chicago, IL 60649	Center
American Educare Child Care Center	3107 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60659	Center
Ancona School Society Preschool	4770 S Dorchester Av, Chicago, IL 60615	Preschool
Angel Wings Day Care	5365 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60639	Center
Angels Day Care Center	5117 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625	Center
Annunciata School Preschool	3750 E 112th St, Chicago, IL 60617	Preschool
Apple Tree Learning Center	1733 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago, IL 60613	Preschool
Archer Avenue Learning Station	3575 S Archer Ave, Chicago, IL 60609	Preschool
Archways to Education Day Care Center	2530 E State St, Chicago, IL 60633	Center
Ariel Elementary Community Academy	1119 E 46th St, Chicago, IL 60653	Preschool
Armour Elementary School Preschool	950 W 33rd Pl, Chicago, IL 60608	Preschool
Armstrong G Elementary International Studies	2110 W Greenleaf Ave, Chicago, IL 60645	Preschool
Ashburn Community Elementary School Preschool	8300 S St Louis Ave, Chicago, IL 60652	Preschool
Attucks Elementary School Preschool	5055 S State St, Chicago, IL 60609	Preschool
Auburn Park Nursery	741 W 79th St, Chicago, IL 60620	Center
Audubon Elementary School Preschool	3500 N Hoyne Ave, Chicago, IL 60618	Preschool
Avalon Park Elementary School Preschool	8045 S Kenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60619	Preschool
Avondale Elementary School Preschool	2945 N Sawyer Ave, Chicago, IL 60618	Preschool
Banneker Elementary School Preschool	6656 S Normal Blvd, Chicago, IL 60621	Preschool
Barnard Elementary Comp Math & Science Center	10354 S Charles St, Chicago, IL 60643	Preschool
Barry Elementary School Preschool	2828 N Kilbourn Ave, Chicago, IL 60641	Preschool
Barton Elementary School Preschool	7650 S Wolcott Ave, Chicago, IL 60620	Preschool
Bass Elementary School Preschool	1140 W 66th St, Chicago, IL 60621	Preschool
Bateman Elementary School Preschool	4220 N Richmond St, Chicago, IL 60618	Preschool
Beard Elementary School Preschool	6445 W Strong St, Chicago, IL 60656	Preschool
Beasley Elementary Magnet Academic Center Preschool	5255 S State St, Chicago, IL 60609	Preschool
Beaubien Elementary School Preschool	5025 N Laramie Ave, Chicago, IL 60630	Preschool
Beethoven Elementary School Preschool	25 W 47th St, Chicago, IL 60609	Preschool
Beidler Elementary School Preschool	3151 W Walnut St, Chicago, IL 60612	Preschool
Belding Elementary School Preschool	4257 N Tripp Ave, Chicago, IL 60641	Preschool
Bell Elementary School Preschool	3730 N Oakley Ave, Chicago, IL 60618	Preschool
Belmont-cragin Elementary School Preschool	2456 N Mango Ave, Chicago, IL 60639	Preschool
Bennett Elementary School Preschool	10115 S Prairie Ave, Chicago, IL 60628	Preschool
Bernard Horwich J. C.C. Preschool	3003 W Touhy Ave, Chicago, IL 60645	Preschool
Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School Preschool	3751 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL 60613	Preschool
Bernice E. Lavin Children’s Care Center	240 E Ontario St Lbby 100, Chicago, IL 60611	Preschool
Best Start Daycare Center	1352 W 99th St, Chicago, IL 60643	Center
Bethesda Lutheran School Preschool	6803 N Campbell Ave, Chicago, IL 60645	Preschool
Bethune Educational Center	843 W 103rd St, Chicago, IL 60643	Center
Bethune Elementary School Preschool	3030 W Arthington St, Chicago, IL 60612	Preschool
Bettys Day Care Academy	Po Box 51121, Chicago, IL 60651	Center
Beverly Hills SDA School	9356 S Justine St, Chicago, IL 60620	Preschool
Beverly Montessori School	9916 S Walden Pkwy, Chicago, IL 60643	Preschool

Chicago, Illinois.

Ida B. The Wells Fargo Project. Children line up to go to class at the

Community Center

Reportage Hollandia, Nederlands Indie

Untitled

Charlie Chaplin in a scene from “The Immigrant” (SAYRE 13126)

Het Witte Dorp, een nooddorp bij Bruinisse, Bestanddeelnr 901-7524

Jüdische Bevölkerung in Wladimir Wolinsky

9YOU ARE A PRODUCTION SOLDIER – NARA – 515528

The story of Sioni Winiwns

Sen.

W.W. Neely of WVA giving coal to poor, 2/11/26

Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. Wells Housing Project. Children lining up to go to kindergarten class at the community center

Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. The Wells Fargo Project. Children line up to go to class at the

Community Center

More information about FSA/OWI is available at http://hh.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi
Pace. note: owibatch2
Film copy on roll SIS 1, frame 640. Chicago, Illinois. Ida B.

Chicago, Illinois.

Ida B. The Wells Fargo Project. Children line up to go to class at the

Community Center

Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. The Wells Fargo Project. Children line up to go to class at the

Community Center

More information about the FSA/OWI is available at http://hh.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi
Pace. note: owibatch2
Film copy on roll SIS 1, frame 641. Chicago, Illinois. Ida B.

Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. The Wells Fargo Project. Children line up to go to school

More information about the FSA/OWI is available at http://hh.

loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi
Pace. note: owibatch2
Film copy on roll SIS 1, frame 652. Chicago, Illinois. Ida B.

More information about FSA/OWI is available at http://hh.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsaowi
Pace. note: owibatch2
Film copy on roll SIS 1, frame 639. Chicago, Illinois. Ida B.

Chicago, Illinois. Ida B. The Wells Fargo Project. The community center is used by the public school system as an educational facility.

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Ida

ida b

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project

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Kindergarten

Class

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community Center

history of the united states

01/01/1942

Delano, Jack, photographer

chicago

Library of Congress

http://www. loc.gov/

No known restrictions. For information, see U.S. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black & White Photographs http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/071_fsab.html

“None of us can free our conscience from participation in this great evil”

“Humanized” cold numbers

If Florence Kelly did not exist, she would have to be invented. It would seem that statistics could be more boring, and Florence believed all her life that only by carefully documenting reality, one can change the state of affairs and help people.

Despite her background – she was born in the family of a senator – Kelly openly opposed the hypocritical philanthropy of the bourgeoisie. She criticized the donations of the elite as “handouts”, believed that there was only personal interest in this. Realizing that they could not solve social problems (or did not want to), and fearing uprisings and unrest, the rich simply bought off the poor.

She did not believe in words full of “hypocritical sympathy”, but believed in numbers and laws, she wanted the elite to “wake up from sweet dreams” and finally do something real for the citizens.

Worked as soon as they could walk

Florence’s father, Congressman William Kelly, was a founding member of the Republican Party. Mother, Caroline, came from an abolitionist Quaker family. Both opposed slavery, Abraham Lincoln was a close family friend.

Once her father took her to the factory, where the girl saw very young children for the first time. Having barely learned to walk, these babies were already working on a par with adults. Cruel factory scenes – like emaciated children and women tearing themselves in a fumes and stench – crashed into her memory. And she decided that she would do everything in her power to change that.

Florence graduated from Cornell University in her home country, then moved to Europe and continued her education in law and economics at Zurich, the only university in Europe where women were admitted to postgraduate studies already at the end of the 19th century.

Home for rich and poor

Florence Kelly (third from left) with fellow factory inspectors. Photo: https://www.hullhousemuseum.org/

Raising three children, she casually translates Engels’ book The Condition of the Working Class in England. Florence is amazed at the statistics collected by the author on the living conditions of workers in Manchester, for her this is “a model of painstaking, accurate observation.”

Her marriage was unsuccessful, her husband humiliated and beat her. For a long time she tried to adapt, to reconcile, justifying her husband’s cruelty, but in the end she found the strength in herself and in December 1891 fled with her children to Chicago.

She was adopted in an unusual place – Hull House, the first social settlement in Chicago. Wealthy people moved to the slums, hoping to share their knowledge and culture with poor neighbors and make life easier for them. The goal is to unite the rich and the poor into a friendly community. A kindergarten was opened here, English was taught, classes were held on civic rights and duties to improve the lives of the poor.

Sweatshop Maps

Kelly began work in May 1882 as a statistics agent for the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Florence was assigned to collect data on how many sweatshops in Chicago were where unskilled workers received the lowest wages, working in the most difficult conditions. Without even an approximate list of workshops, Kelly and her colleagues went around every house in a row in different parts of the city, expanding their search in all directions.

They checked every guess about the workshop, hidden from prying eyes, tracked reports in the local press, police reports, neighbors’ tips, used any information.

For each workshop, data was collected on its design, height of the room and its location – often the workshops were in basements with low ceilings, without windows, and therefore without air circulation. It was necessary to determine the source of “power” for sewing machines – steam, gas or human legs. The type of clothing produced, the number of workers, indicating their nationality, gender and age, wages, working hours.

In a word, everything that served as an indirect indicator of a safe or unhealthy workshop. At the peak of the season, the “best” workshops required workers to work 10 hours a day, six days a week. Worst – 16 hours a day, seven days a week.

Factory Inspector Woman

Geneva Club of Political Equality. Ticket to Mrs. Florence Kelly’s lecture, 1904. Photo: loc.getarchive.net

Kelly’s testimony before the Joint Legislative Committee – she presented her investigation into the sweatshop industry, accompanied by unique maps – helped pass the Illinois Factories and Workshops Act in 1893 years old

Thanks to her, the regulation on minimum wages and maximum working hours was adopted. It is forbidden to use the labor of children under 14 years of age. The workshops were removed from the living quarters.

The law also provided for the appointment of a factory inspector to enforce the law, which was Kelly. For the first time in history, this position was held by a woman, with a staff of 11 men and women.

As an inspector, Kelly tried to get sweatshops to follow the law, but faced resistance from some employers. She even sued several businesses. Unfortunately, she lost the lawsuits. Realizing that she lacked knowledge in law, Florence entered Northwestern University and received another specialty, becoming a lawyer.

Smallpox Exhibition

Payroll map for areas around Hull House (Chicago, Illinois, USA). Each square depicts an apartment building, and incomes are shown in the legend below. Houses marked with black squares earned only $5 a week or less. Photo: https://www.smithsonianmag.com

Instead of “leading in the office”, she, with her usual meticulousness, also created maps of the slums, which went down in history as the most important document of the era.

Her discoveries in the field of information gathering have been called a “snowball”. The principle is that the first participants in a survey-sample suggest others to talk to, and as the sample grows, more and more people are included, just like a snowball increases in size as it rolls down along the slope.

This method helped deal with sweatshops, map slums, trace contacts for smallpox cases, and has recently been used during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago attracted almost 28 million visitors from all over the world. Florence, who visited the exhibition with her son, writes: “… whoever saw these wonderful achievements of art, architecture and enterprise, united for a common noble goal, can never forget them.”

But during the exhibition, a case of smallpox infection was discovered, and the disease began to spread throughout the sewing district. In Chicago, 95% of the population had been vaccinated as early as 1868, but by 1893 herd immunity had obviously waned.

When word came out that smallpox could be transmitted through tissue, Kelly acted hard and fast. Organized tracing of contacts using lists compiled by her office of wholesalers, contractors hired by them in other shops, and finishers hired by contractors. Her office received a daily list of infections from the city health board, compared those addresses with office lists, and made immediate inspections of infected workshops and those in their neighborhood.

So her team found many cases of infection not on the health department’s lists and demonstrated the poor quality of the statistics kept by the city health commissioner.

This did not please many officials.

In addition, Kelly was authorized to reject and destroy contaminated merchandise. And she did it ruthlessly, despite the dissatisfaction of the owners of enterprises. In the end, in 1897, the newly elected governor John Riley Tanner fired the obstinate and incorruptible inspector.

White label

New York at the beginning of the 20th century. Photo: furfur.me

At the invitation of the authorities, Kelly moves to New York, where she is asked to lead the nascent National Consumer League.

Through the efforts of Kelly and her colleagues, the “Clean Foods and Drugs Act” was soon passed, which prevented “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or mislabeled, poisonous, or harmful food, drugs, and liquor. ”

In addition, Florence came up with the White Label campaign, a prototype of corporate social responsibility in our time. A bright label was given to a business that complied with all the requirements of the law and treated employees fairly, and citizens were encouraged to support workers’ rights by buying only from these businesses.

Kelly’s main pain and life’s work was children. In 1905, at the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, she said:

“Tonight, while we sleep in our beds, several thousand little girls will work in textile factories all night long to the deafening roar of spindles and looms, they will spin and weave cotton and wool, silk and ribbon so that we can buy them.

A girl of six or seven years old, barely reaching her bobbin height, can work 11 hours a day and a night. They carry bundles of clothes, small beasts of burden, devoid of childhood and school life, to work for us… none of us can free our consciences from participating in this great evil.