Roy Hennigh, owner of a grocery store in Sabetha, Nemaha County, wrote this letter to the governor concerning a recent visit to his store by a female deputy factory inspector. According to Hennigh, this inspector informed him that his two teenage daughters could not work in his store on the weekends according to the child labor laws. Hennigh argues that he does not officially employ his children, or any other children, because "they help me just as anybody's children should." He believes it is "very poor judgement to enact a law which forbids parents to use the help of their own children." He also takes issue with the fact that a female inspector evaluated his business. P. J. McBride, Commissioner of Labor and Industry, replied to this letter on December 12, 1917.
Date: November 21, 1917
Creator: Hennigh, Roy
This source illustrates one parent's argument against this child labor law (at least when applied to work within his store). Students could discuss what forms of labor should be regulated under child labor laws. It could be grouped with P. J. McBride's response, or when combined with the other letters from Sabetha citizens (like Ralph Tennal and Emma Grimm) this could form a case study of how this law was applied in small-town Kansas.
KS:11th:1.4:Child labor laws (2005)
Item Number: 211787
Call Number: Governor's Correspondence, Capper, Box 10, Folder 2, No. 9
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 211787
Business and Industry - Labor - Child labor
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Grocers
Business and Industry - Retail - Grocery stores
Collections - State Archives - Governor's Records - Capper, Arthur
Curriculum - 11th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1877-1930 (Kansas_Benchmark 1) - Child labor laws (Indicator 4) - Arguments against child labor legislation
Curriculum - 11th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1877-1930 (Kansas_Benchmark 1) - Child labor laws (Indicator 4) - Examples of child labor
Date - 1910s - 1917
Government and Politics - State Government - State agencies and programs - Agencies - Court of Industrial Relations
Home and Family - Children
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - Children
People - Notable Kansans - Capper, Arthur, 1865-1951
Places - Cities and towns - Sabetha
Places - Counties - Nemaha
Thematic Time Period - Age of Reform, 1880 - 1917
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/211787
