"Women, Babies & Death: The U.S. Children's Bureau in Progressive Era America"

Monday, April 15th, 2019

Follow this link to watch Elizabeth Garner Masarik's presentation on YouTube.

The TR Site’s ongoing Speaker Nite series recently featured Elizabeth Garner Masarik, a historian of the welfare state and women in Progressive Era America and a PhD candidate in History at the University at Buffalo. Her presentation, “Women, Babies, and Death: The U.S. Children's Bureau in Progressive Era America” looked at the role of women in social reform, especially with respect to the health and welfare of children.

Masarik began her talk by discussing the concept of the welfare state. Many people connect it to the New Deal Era and social reforms of the 1930s. However, as Masarik pointed out, the welfare state has its roots in the Progressive Era, and many of the key figures associated with New Deal policies were involved in earlier reform movements. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, America faced the largest discrepancy of wealth it had ever seen. Extreme poverty was a pervasive issue, even amongst those who were working. The rampant and unregulated capitalism of the period had created enormous amounts of wealth, almost none of which was shared with the workers who created it. There were many who felt capitalism was an exploitative system and needed to be abolished. Others felt capitalism could be reformed without being overthrown. This latter group is what we refer to as Progressive Era reformers.

Women in particular were at the forefront of these social reforms. The period from 1890 to 1920 is often called the “Women’s Era” because they were major players in labor reform, education, suffrage, temperance, and many other social causes. One such cause that captured the attention of reformers was the health of women and children. During this time period, infant death was common. Many believed with the advancement of technology and medicine at the turn of the century, that infant mortality rates would decrease. Yet, that was not the case. In 1900, the estimated national infant mortality rate was 100 per every 1000 live births, resulting in over 230,000 infant deaths per year. The maternal mortality rate was 15,000 deaths per year. Shockingly, the actual numbers were probably much higher because the U.S. did not have a system in place to register births.

This was due, in part, to the lack of a centralized organizing board to regulate the recording of birth. While census counts occurred every ten years, often families would not report the birth/death of a child if it occurred in between surveys. There were also calls for a national agency that could collect and disseminate information regarding the welfare of children. In 1903, several reformers approached Edward T. Devine, a longtime political associate of Theodore Roosevelt, to introduce the idea of a federal children’s bureau. Roosevelt famously replied, “Bully! Come down and tell me about it.” The reformers argued that because so many different voluntary organizations were working on children’s welfare, one federal bureau in Washington was needed to regulate and coordinate all of their activities. Roosevelt privately endorsed the idea, but was hesitant to endorse it publically until later.

It was not until 1909 that the government started to actively participate in the matter. The first White House Conference was convened in 1909 and just about every notable social reformer was in attendance. The conference discussed many issues relating to the general welfare of children. Quite significantly, it declared that children were deserving of special measures to ensure their protection and well-being. This was a significant landmark, because it signaled a shift in the attitude regarding children and the state. It provided official recognition of the government’s responsibility for the welfare of children. While the conference made the suggestion that a children’s bureau was necessary, it did not secure the government’s commitment to create one. In response, many of the voluntary organizations galvanized their support and campaigned vigorously on behalf of its creation. They were ultimately successful and the bill that created U.S. Children’s Bureau was passed and signed into law by President Taft in 1912.

While the creation of the Children’s Bureau did not immediately alleviate all of the social issues facing women and children, it did create an infrastructure for addressing them. Masarik’s talk went on to discuss all of the improvements to women and children’s health care during the period and the general advancements in children’s welfare.

-- Lindsey Evans, Public Programming Assistant

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Speaker Nite is part of the TR Site’s regular Tuesday evening programming, which is made possible with generous support from M&T Bank, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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