== Early life and education ==

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Frances Alice 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, so worked at a local news company. She eventually became an investigative reporter at the company, when two sisters, Mary and Frances Eddy took notice of her. The sisters 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. It was at the University of Chicago that she wrote her first scholarly article about equality among women and men in physical education. Kellor also began her study of prisons while at University of Chicago, which would lead to her first book Experimental Sociology (1901)[1] .

Career

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2.1 Women’s Activism

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Kellor focused her works on Women’s Rights on studying the treatment of women in education and the work force. Kellor did her work on Women’s Rights by completing field work at various locations including studying women in prison, women in the Hull-House in Chicago, women employees, and women in educational settings. Kellor wrote the book Out of Work (1904), which discusses immigrant unemployment in the United States. The second chapter of this book discusses unemployment among women, stating that little data had been taken on women’s unemployment due to the social opinion that unemployment had little to do with women. This chapter also discusses reasons why women employees had not been able to attain the same standards through union organization that men were able to, the helplessness of unemployed women, and unemployed women and prostitution[2] . Kellor argued for equal treatment of women in educational settings, specifically in physical education. In 1909 she published a book in collaboration with Gertrude Dudley called Athletic Games in the Education of Women. The book argues that participating in sports could have positive effects for women, since it would allow to them to leave the confines of the home[3] . Kellor and Dudley suggest that women participating in sports would make them more socially active.

2.2 Immigrant Rights

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Frances Kellor 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 was brought on by Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 presidential campaign, to help write the Progressive Party’s platform. This election marked the first time the party had taken up immigration as a key issue. The platform promised to provide immigrants more opportunities to succeed, as well as reverse policies that neglected immigrants and their rights. Roosevelt lost the election to Woodrow Wilson, but Kellor continued her fight for immigrant rights. At the time, Kellor was the director of the North American Civic League. She began advocating for increased collaboration between private, state, and national efforts, aimed at assimilating, educating, and protecting the rapidly growing immigrant population. In 1914, she left the American Civic League and formed the Committee for Immigrants in America. This committee fought for immigrant rights and education. Kellor’s efforts resulted in more than 13% of non-English-speaking immigrants enrolling in citizenship classes by 1915. The movement continued to make progress, but Kellor was not satisfied. She began pressuring the federal government to act and aide immigrants in regards to protection, education, and opportunity. Kellor organized and promoted the National Americanization Day, to be held on July 4, 1915. Over 150 cities nationwide partook in this holiday, which celebrated and welcomed naturalized immigrants . She also oversaw the American Association of Foreign Language Newspapers[4] She directed the National Americanization Committee (NAC), an important private organization promoting Americanization during World War I. Speaking for the NAC in 1916, she proposed Americanization programs that to combined efficiency and patriotism. It would be more efficient, she argued, once the factory workers could all understand English and therefore better understand orders and avoid accidents. Once Americanized, immigrants would grasp American industrial ideals and be open to American influences. This would make them less subject to strike agitators or and foreign propagandists. The result, she argued would transform less knowledgeable residents into understanding voters, making their homes into American homes, and to establishing American standards of living throughout the ethnic communities. Ultimately, she argued it would "unite foreign-born and native alike in enthusiastic loyalty to our national ideals of liberty and justice."[5]

2.3 Prisons

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Kellor wrote her book Experimental Sociology: Descriptive and Analytical as well as at least twelve articles on the American prison systems. She argues that crime is due to poor education and unemployment[6]. This is contrary to the popular belief of the time that criminality was biological[7]. Kellor looks at race as well, specifically the many conditions that led Southern African Americans criminals to engage in crime. In her series of essays on this topic she discusses the effect of prison life on crime, especially how for African Americans prison life is debilitating for social life which perpetuates crime[8]. Kellor also discusses other factors that led Southern Africans to crime including domestic life, economic instability, local politics, and state penal systems[8]. She also does a direct comparison of the conditions and characteristics of White and African American inmates[8]. Rehabilitation was one of her solutions to these causes[7], as well as reintegration programs[8].

5.1 Books

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Immigration and the Future (1920)

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Kellor discusses how views on immigration changed over time, most specifically before and after World War 1. The book delves into how immigration policy will impact flows of people to America. The book discusses the economic implications of open immigration and how a duel economic system was born separating foreign born and native born Americans. The book continues, covering immigration’s impact on American business, investment, and assimilation.  

5.2 Articles

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  "Criminal Anthropology in Its Relation to Jurisprudence" (January 1899)[4]
  "Criminal Anthropology in Its Relation to Jurisprudence II" (March 1899)[4]
  "Psychological and Environmental Study of Women Criminals I" (January 1900)[4]
  "Psychological and Environmental Study of Women Criminals II" (March 1900)[4]
  "The Criminal Negro: I. A Sociological Study" (January-June 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: II. Southern Conditions that Influence Negro Criminality" (February 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: III. Some of His Characteristics" (March 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: IV. Advantages and Abuses of Southern Penal Systems" (April 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: V. Physical Measurements of Females" (January-June 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: VI. Psychological Tests of Females" (July 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: VII. Childhood Influences" (September 1901)[3]
  "The Criminal Negro: VIII. Environmental Influences" (November 1901)[3]

6 References

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  1. ^ Murdach, Allison D. (2008-01-01). "Frances Kellor and the Americanization Movement". Social Work. 53 (1): 93–95. doi:10.1093/sw/53.1.93. JSTOR 23721194. PMID 18610826.
  2. ^ Kellor, Frances (1909). Out of Work. New York: Henry Holt.
  3. ^ Kellor, Frances (1909). Athletic Games in the Education of Women. New York: Henry Holt.
  4. ^ Murdach, Allison D. (2008-01-01). "Frances Kellor and the Americanization Movement". Social Work. 53 (1): 93–95. doi:10.1093/sw/53.1.93. JSTOR 23721194. PMID 18610826.
  5. ^ Kellor, Frances (1920-01-01). Immigration and the Future. George H. Doran.
  6. ^ "Frances Kellor facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Frances Kellor". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  7. ^ a b "Frances Kellor". faculty.webster.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  8. ^ a b c d ProQuest https://www.proquest.com/docview/124463143. Retrieved 2017-04-18. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)