American Humane Association
Prevention of Cruelty to Children Started with One Child
During a visit to some New York tenement residents in December 1873, social worker Marietta ‘Etta’ Wheeler was told that a child was being abused. The girl was seldom seen, but her cries and screams were heard often. Tenants believed that she was often cruelly whipped, but they did not know where to seek help. A tenant who saw the child only once thought she was about five or six years of age.
Marietta “Etta” Wheeler Social Worker
Under the pretext that she needed help, Etta Wheeler knocked on the door of the family where the child lived. She saw the girl who was dirty, dressed in threadbare clothing, and the size of a five-year-old.
In her written statement, Etta said, “From a pan set upon a low stool she stood washing dishes, struggling with a frying pan about as heavy as herself. Across the table lay a brutal whip of twisted leather strands, and the child's meagre arms and legs bore many marks of its use.” Etta observed the terrible sad expression on the child’s face and determined that she would find a way to help her.
Etta Wheeler knew that the child’s rescue should not be attempted until there was real possibility of success. She made enquiries and asked for advice, but no one would help. New York City authorities were reluctant to intervene
On Easter Sunday 1874 Etta went to the tenement to visit an elderly, bed-bound woman who lived across the hall from the child. She told Etta that the man and woman had gone out and said they would not return until the evening. The child was alone in a darkened room.
Etta Wheeler and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Etta Wheeler turned to Henry Bergh. As a private citizen he was greatly concerned. As President of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals with connections to the legal system and the press, he was able to facilitate Mary Ellen’s rescue.
Henry Bergh sent a Society investigator who posed as a census worker to verify the situation. ASPCA attorney Elbridge T. Gerry prepared the petition to remove Mary Ellen from the home. Bergh also alerted reporters of the New York Times who gave extensive coverage of the case.
The next morning, April 9, 1874, Mary Ellen was carried into a courtroom. Along with the bruises, there were gashes on her face from the woman striking her with scissors. Upon seeing the child’s condition and listening to her, Judge Abraham Lawrence determined that she would not be taken back to her home.
New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Etta Wheeler thanked Henry Bergh for his help and asked if there could be a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. According to records, he took her hand and promised that there would be one.
The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the first of its kind in the world, was founded in 1874. Attorney Elbridge T. Gerry, co-founder and director of the Society authored most of the child protection legislation and prosecuted child abusers in courts. With no remuneration, he served the Society in several capacities for fifty-two years.
That organization and several Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined together to form the American Humane Association in 1877.
Mary Ellen Wilson was not the first abused child, but her story that follows was the first to draw national and world-wide attention to the issue.
Sources:
The Mary Ellen Myth: Correcting Child Welfare History By S. A. Watkins
Published by the American Humane Association 1990
The Mary Ellen Wilson Child Abuse Case and the Beginning of Children's Rights in 19th Century America By Eric A. Shelman, Stephen Lazoritz
Published by McFarland, 2005
An Introduction to Child Maltreatment in the United States: History, Public Policy, and Research
By Clifford K. Dorne
Third Edition Published by Criminal Justice Press, 2002
Animals Protected before Children
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