
Grace Abbott
Defender of the Defenseless
Progressive Era social worker and administrator Grace Abbott led in the struggle for immigrant protection and child welfare. As head of the Federal Children’s Bureau, she enforced child labor laws and promoted maternal and child health care. As a member of the President’s Council on Economic Security in 1934-35, she helped draft the Social Security Act. Abbott also proposed the child labor provisions that were adopted in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the law that did away with child labor. (Photo: Library of Congress)