Muller v. Oregon A Brief History with Documents

by Woloch, Nancy

• ISBN13: 9780312085865
• ISBN10: 0312085869
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-04-15
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

In 1908 the Supreme Court unanimously upheld an Oregon law that set a ten-hour limit on the workdays of women in factories and laundries. Using lawyers' briefs, arguments over single-sex protective laws, and other major court decisions, Nancy Woloch examines a moment in which constitutional history, women's history, and progressive politics converged.

Author Biography

Nancy Woloch is the author of Women and the American Experience (2nd ed., 1994); the editor of Early American Women: A Documentary History, 1600-1900 (1992); a coathor of The American Century: a History of the United States since the 1890s (4th ed., 1992); and a coauthor of The Enduring Vision: a History of the American People (3rd ed., 1996). She teaches history and American studies at Barnard College, Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Preface	vii
PART ONE ``Entering Wedge'': Muller v. Oregon and Its Legacy	1	(90)
Introduction	3	(2)
The Rise of Protective Laws	5	(16)
The Campaign for Protection	7	(5)
Constitutional Issues	12	(3)
Hours Laws and the Courts	15	(3)
The Bakeshop Case, 1905	18	(3)
``The Facts of Common Knowledge,'' 1908	21	(20)
Florence Kelley, the NCL, and the ``Right to Leisure''	22	(4)
Louis D. Brandeis and the ``Living Law''	26	(2)
The Brandeis Brief	28	(5)
The Brief for Muller	33	(2)
Justice Brewer's Opinion	35	(6)
From Muller to Adkins, 1908--1923	41	(17)
New Brandeis Briefs	41	(2)
Fatigue and Efficiency	43	(2)
Bunting v. Oregon (1917)	45	(2)
``A Living Wage''	47	(4)
``The Heart of the Contract,'' 1923	51	(7)
Legacy: Labor Law, Women's Politics, and Protective Policies	58	(33)
The Women's Movement in the 1920s	58	(3)
Protection Triumphant: The New Deal and After	61	(5)
Protection Dismantled: Title VII and After	66	(5)
Muller Revisited	71	(20)
PART TWO The Documents	91	(106)
Ritchie v. People (1895)	93	(4)
Holden v. Hardy (1898)	97	(2)
Lochner v. New York (1905)	99	(6)
``The Right to Leisure,''	105	(3)
Florence Kelley
``The Opportunity in the Law,''	108	(1)
Louis D. Brandeis
``The Dangers of Long Hours,'' From the Brandeis Brief, 1908	109	(24)
``Women Are Both Persons and Citizens,'' The Brief for Curt Muller, 1907	133	(11)
Muller v. Oregon (1908)	144	(6)
Bunting v. Oregon (1917)	150	(2)
A Living Wage in Oregon	152	(5)
Caroline J. Gleason
Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923)	157	(9)
The Women's Movement in the Early 1920s	166	(19)
A Debate in Life and Labor	166	(4)
Marguerite Mooers Marshall
Rose Schneiderman
Twenty Questions about the ERA	170	(4)
Florence Kelley
A Debate in the Nation	174	(4)
Harriot Stanton Blatch
Clara Mortenson Beyer
A Debate in the Forum	178	(7)
Doris Stevens
Alice Hamilton
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)	185	(4)
United States v. Darby (1941)	189	(8)
APPENDICES
Chronology: Major Hours and Wages Cases, 1895--1941	190	(2)
In Search of Muller: Suggested Reading	192	(5)
Index	197