07/06/2008
Ellen Webster Palmer: Friend of the Working Boy
BY WILLIAM C. KASHATUS
CORRESPONDENT


On Wilkes-Barre’s River Common stands a statue of Ellen Webster Palmer with two breaker boys.


In her left hand, she holds a book, a reminder that she spent her evenings teaching these youngsters after a long hard day of picking rock from coal.

The pedestal on which she stands bears the inscription, “The Friend of the Working Boy.”

Without that statue, Palmer, a champion of child labor laws, would probably be forgotten by history.

While there were more prominent social reformers during the 19th century, few were as selfless in their devotion to children.

The Industrial Revolution propelled the United States onto the forefront of international trade and commerce. Factories dominated the skylines of every major city on the East Coast, and a rapidly spreading network of railroads and steamships carried their products to markets at home and abroad. Northeastern Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal mines proved vital to the economic growth of the nation, providing the necessary fuel for her trains and factories.


As production soared, many ambitious entrepreneurs sought to increase their profits by reducing labor costs. Not only did they hire unskilled immigrants, but also children, who were often preferred, because they were more manageable, cheaper and less likely to strike.

By 1890, 19 percent of American children between 10 and 15 years of age were employed. Although several states prohibited child labor, the laws were easily circumvented, and the largest industrial concerns — like coal mining — were exempt from state regulations because they produced for an interstate, national market.

Many immigrant parents, desperate to increase the family income, sent their children to work in demanding and sometimes dangerous jobs. Since coal mining was Pennsylvania’s leading industry, sons were sent to work as “Breaker boys,” sometimes as young as 7 or 8.

Seated on wooden planks in massive, ill-ventilated collieries, they’d sort coal from rock for 10 to 12 hours per day. Some fell into the shaker machine, mangling an arm that would have to be amputated. Older boys secured underground jobs manning ventilation doors or tending to mules. Those who dozed off risked being crushed to death by a runaway mine car.

Shocked by these deplorable conditions and the poverty of the youngsters she saw trudging home from the

mines, Ellen Webster Palmer, a Wilkes-Barre school-teacher and temperance reformer, became determined to improve their circumstances.

Palmer was the Vermont-bred wife of Henry W. Palmer, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, and the mother of eight children. Because of her husband’s wealth, Ellen was able to leave teaching and establish the Boys Industrial Association in 1891.

The Boys Industrial Association was a non-sectarian organization, which provided the rudiments of literacy and a moral education to working boys, mostly from the mines. Initially, Palmer rented space on the fourth floor of the Wilkes-Barre City Hall with money from public donations. She also secured the services of volunteer teachers who instructed the boys in reading, writing and arithmetic.

“We have no use for lazy boys,” Palmer insisted, and made sure to eliminate idleness by creating singing, debate and literary clubs. She also insisted that each boy take a pledge to tell the truth and observe temperance. In these ways, Palmer hoped to teach mutual respect and unselfishness.

By 1899, the Boys Industrial Association had captured the attention of hundreds of working boys and needed more space. Once again, Palmer raised the public funding necessary to build a four-story brick structure, which included a band room, auditorium and gymnasium.

Concerned about the health of her young charges — especially the breaker boys whose lungs grew black with coal dust — Palmer took the boys to Lake Nuangola in the summer to enjoy the fresh air. They’d pitch tents, play games and enjoy good, wholesome meals prepared by Palmer.

Palmer’s efforts went well beyond the Boys Industrial Association, though.

She made the public aware of the deplorable conditions working children faced, especially in the coal mines. Those efforts prompted, in 1903, state legislation making it illegal to employ children under age 14 in surface jobs and under age 16 inside the mines, though younger boys continued to be hired by unscrupulous operators.

A year later, the National Child Labor Committee, composed mostly of middle-class female reformers, launched a campaign to eliminate child labor and simultaneously provide free, compulsory education for all children. Their efforts culminated in the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938.

When Ellen Webster Palmer died in 1918 at the age of 78, hundreds of Boys Industrial Association alumni flocked to the Hollenback Cemetery to pay their final respects.

“Mrs. Palmer was prominently identified with religious, educational and charitable work,” read her obituary in the local newspapers, “but the BIA was nearest to her heart.”

William Kashatus teaches history at Luzerne County Community College. He can be contacted at bkashatus@luzerne.edu.
Sheldon Spear, “Wyoming Valley Children in the Age of Anthracite,” Chapters in Northeastern Pennsylvania History. (Shavertown, Pa.: Jemags & Co., 1999): pp. 163-179.

Zoe Stout, “Technology’s Victims: The Breaker Boys, Ellen Webster Palmer & the BIA,” Social Studies Journal, Vol. 20 (Spring 1991): pp. 26-32.