The Case That Paved the Way for Children’s Rights
While Mary Ellen’s child protection case took place 150 years ago in 1874, we still remember and honor her today because her case marked the beginning of public concern for the plight of abused and neglected children.
Mary Ellen was a child whose father was dead and whose mother was destitute and had to work full-time. Because her mother could not take care of her, Mary Ellen was placed into the care of Mary McCormack Connolly by the New York Commission of Charities and Correction.
Although Mrs. Connolly was tasked with raising Mary Ellen and reporting on her progress each year, she instead abused the child. She locked Mary Ellen in a room, rarely allowed her outside, did not provide adequate food or clothing, and severely beat her. Upset by Mary Ellen’s screaming, a neighbor contacted a mission worker about the situation, but they could not find anyone to intervene.
The mission worker finally appealed to Henry Bergh, the founder and president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), which was created a few years earlier in 1866. Bergh took up Mary Ellen’s cause and sent a private investigator to gather evidence of her abuse.
Posing as a census worker, the investigator gained access to Mary Ellen’s home, took detailed notes of her condition, and passed them along to Bergh. With these notes, Bergh persuaded a judge to hear the case. Mary Ellen was carried into the courtroom wrapped in a blanket, and this is what a newspaper reported her saying:
“My father and mother are both dead. I don’t know how old I am... I call Mrs. Connolly “Mamma.” I have never had but one pair of shoes, but I cannot recollect when that was... My bed at night has only been a piece of carpet stretched on the floor beneath a window... Mamma has been in the habit of whipping and beating me almost every day. She used to whip me with a twisted whip—a raw hide... She struck me with scissors and cut me; I have no recollection of ever having been kissed by anyone—have never been kissed by Mamma... Whenever Mamma went out, I was locked up in the bedroom... I do not want to go back to live with Mamma because she beats me so.”
As a result of the hearing, Mary Ellen was removed from Mrs. Connolly’s home. Her case stirred public attention, and complaints began to pour in to Henry Bergh. So many cases of cruelty to children came to light that citizens called a community meeting and formed an association “for the defense of outraged childhood.” That association gave rise to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and a movement to protect children was born.
