Editing National Child Labor Committee (section)

==Formation==
[[File:Midnight at the glassworks2b.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Child labor in [[Indiana]] glassworks. (Hine, 1908)]]
[[Edgar Gardner Murphy]], an American clergyman and author, is credited with proposing the National Child Labor Committee following a conference between Murphy's Alabama Child Labor Committee, and the New York Child Labor Committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Me-Pa/National-Child-Labor-Committee.html|title= National Child Labor Committee|access-date=2008-11-25|publisher=Encyclopedia of children and Childhood in History and Society}}</ref> The conference culminated on April 25, 1904 at a mass meeting held in [[Carnegie Hall]], New York City. At the meeting, both men and women concerned with the plight of working children overwhelmingly supported the formation of the National Child Labor Committee, and [[Felix Adler (professor)|Felix Adler]] was elected its first Chairman.<ref name="History of NCLC">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalchildlabor.org/history.html|title=History of NCLC|access-date=2008-11-25|publisher=National Child Labor Committee|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621055250/http://www.nationalchildlabor.org/history.html|archive-date=2008-06-21}}</ref>

The new organization moved swiftly in procuring the support of prominent Americans. In November 1904, barely half a year after its conception, the NCLC boasted the membership of leading politicians, philanthropists, clergymen, and intellectuals including: former president [[Grover Cleveland]], Senator [[Benjamin Tillman]] of [[South Carolina]], and the president of [[Harvard University]], [[Charles W. Eliot]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/11/27/101350251.pdf|title=National Effort to Solve Child Labor Problem|access-date=2008-11-25|work=New York Times|date=1904-11-27}}</ref>

In 1907, the NCLC was [[charter]]ed by an [[act of Congress]] with a board of directors originally including prominent Progressive reformers such as [[Jane Addams]], [[Florence Kelley]], [[Edward Thomas Devine]], [[Deborah Donalds]], and [[Lillian Wald]]. With the leadership of such prominent reformers, the organization quickly began to attract additional support and moved towards action and advocacy.<ref name="National Child Labor Committee">{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Me-Pa/National-Child-Labor-Committee.html|title=National Child Labor Committee|access-date=2008-11-25|publisher=Encyclopedia of children and Childhood in History and Society}}</ref>