Education and Legislation: Female Political Empowerment and the National Consumers League in the Early Progressive Era

This presentation will examine the National Consumers League as it empowered women, especially those of higher socioeconomic status, during the first decade of the twentieth century and much of the preceding decade (when several local leagues were established before forming a National League in 1898). These local leagues published lists of retailers that met basic standards for the treatment of employees, especially women and children. The National Consumers League then launched a similar campaign, creating requirements that garment manufacturers had to meet to use the White Label on their products. Not much later, the National League provided its (mostly female) membership with direct opportunities for political participation, including lobbying and preparing arguments for court cases such as Muller v. Oregon (1908). These women were surprisingly successful in achieving their goals, considering that they were involved before they could even vote everywhere in the United States