Alexander McKelway

Alexander McKelway (October 6, 1866 - April 16, 1918) was an American Presbyterian minister, and journalist. He is best known as an activist for child labor reform at the state and national level. He argued the children should not be made to contribute to the parents' welfare, saying education could break the cycle of poverty In the South.

Childhood and Family

McKelway was born in Salisbury, Pennsylvania to John Ryan McKelway and Catherine Scott Comfort McKelway. He grew up in Albemarle County, Virginia and Charlotte County, Virginia, attended Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, and graduated from Hampden–Sydney College in 1886.[1]

He married Lavinia Rutherford Smith and had five children including Alexander McKelway, the writer St. Clair McKelway and the journalist Benjamin Mosby McKelway.[2]

Career

After a short time as a Presbyterian minister, McKelway became a writer and editor with The Presbyterian Standard and then The Charlotte News.[3] He soon became involved in child labor reform. He became Southern regional organizer for the National Child Labor Committee In 1909 McKelway moved the family to Washington D.C. to continue his work with the committee. His efforts resulted in the creation of the United States Children's Bureau. Many credit McKelway with the passage of the Keating-Owen Act.[4]

McKelway and his family lived in the Georgetown neighborhood.[5]

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References
  1. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 4, edited by William Stevens Powell, Univ of North Carolina Press, p. 157-158.
  2. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 4, edited by William Stevens Powell, Univ of North Carolina Press, p. 157-158.
  3. Child Labor: A World History Companion By Sandy Hobbs, Jim McKechnie, Michael Lavalette
  4. Child Labor: A World History Companion By Sandy Hobbs, Jim McKechnie, Michael Lavalette
  5. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 4, edited by William Stevens Powell, Univ of North Carolina Press, p. 157-158.


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