# Florence Kelley — Twenty Years at Hull House character guide

> Florence Kelley in Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mrs. Florence Kelley, Mrs. Kelley

**First appearance:** 0013-x-pioneer-labor-legislation-in-illinois

## Snapshot

The Hull House resident who turned neighborhood misery into statistics, pushing Illinois toward its first factory law and a fourteen-year age limit for child labor.

## Who they are

Kelley sees that impressions of suffering are not enough, so she persuades the State Bureau of Labor to investigate Chicago's sweating system and conducts the study herself. Her report reaches the legislature, a commission dines at Hull House, and a three-month campaign of union halls and church meetings follows. She matters because she converts the settlement's sympathy into law, and because her child-labor cases — the girl with carbolic acid, the family that cannot spare a week's wages — give the book its sharpest moral urgency.

## In the story

### [Twenty Years at Hull House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/twenty-years-at-hull-house)

Resident at Hull House, active in labor and social reform.

### [Influence of Lincoln](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/ii-influence-of-lincoln)

Mentioned in the context of Hull House activities.

### [Some Early Undertakings at Hull House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/vii-some-early-undertakings-at-hull-house)

Resident who contributed to the Hull House Maps and Papers and was involved in early social investigations.

### [VII: Problems of Poverty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/vii-problems-of-poverty)

Not explicitly mentioned in these excerpts.

### [A Decade of Economic Discussion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/ix-a-decade-of-economic-discussion)

A resident who translated Engels' 'Conditions of the Working Class in England' and was read out of the Socialist Party due to suspicion of her fluent English.

### [Pioneer Labor Legislation in Illinois](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/x-pioneer-labor-legislation-in-illinois)

Implied through reference to the Illinois Ten-Hour Law for Women and the Chicago Woman's Trades Union League.

### [Public Activities and Investigations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/xiii-public-activities-and-investigations)

Implied as a Hull House resident involved in industrial investigations and advocacy for women and children in industry.

### [XIV: Civic Cooperation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/xiv-civic-cooperation)

State Factory Inspector during the smallpox epidemic, discovering infected clothing in homes.

### [The Value of Social Clubs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/chapters/xv-the-value-of-social-clubs)

Mentioned as part of the Child Labor Committee work with the General Federation of Woman's Clubs.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/characters/florence_kelley
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/twenty_years_at_hull_house_se/characters