Frances Kellor

Frances Alice Kellor (October 20, 1873 – January 4, 1952) was an American social reformer and investigator, who specialized in the study of immigrants to the United States and women. She was secretary and treasurer of the New York State Immigration Commission in 1909 and chief investigator for the Bureau of Industries and Immigration of New York State in 1910–13. She also oversaw the American Association of Foreign Language Newspapers, and co-founded the American Arbitration Association.

Early life and education

Kellor was born October 20, 1873, in Columbus, Ohio. During Kellors’ childhood, her father left the family, forcing her mother to move to Michigan to work as a laundress. Kellor could not afford to finish high school, leading her to work at a local news company where she eventually became an investigative reporter at the company. It was there that two sisters, Mary and Frances Eddy, took notice of her and helped fund Kellors’ college education. She received her law degree in 1897 from Cornell Law School, and received a scholarship to study sociology and social work at the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago she wrote her first scholarly article about equality among women and men in physical education, and began her study of prisons which led to her first book, Experimental Sociology. Descriptive and Analytical Delinquents. (1901).

Career

She was secretary and treasurer of the New York State Immigration Commission in 1909 and chief investigator for the Bureau of Industries and Immigration of New York State in 1910–13. She became managing director of the North American Civic League for Immigrants and a member of the Progressive National Committee. She also oversaw the American Association of Foreign Language Newspapers.