| Creator | Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children |
| Title | Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children records |
| Dates | 1877-1964 |
| Identification | CC 4 |
| Quantity | 0.5 linear feet (1 manuscript box) |
| Collection Abstract | The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) records, 1911-(1911-1948)-1964, are arranged chronologically and include the annual reports and publications of the Society. A handbook, a notice, and legislative results are included. A Handbook of Useful Information includes a history of the Society, its goals and purposes, the types of cases with which they dealt, and a description of the Children's Home. A notice of a law enacted on July 17, 1887, announces the law regarding peddling and begging children. Legislative Results of the Massachusetts Special Commission to Investigate the Laws Relative to Children, 1931, shows the laws passed, changed, and lost or dropped during that year. |
| Historical Abstract | The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), a private charitable organization, was incorporated on April 23, 1878. For its first twenty-nine years the Society functioned as a part of the police force, by protecting children from physical cruelty and by prosecuting the offenders. In 1907 the Society's emphasis changed from legal to social aspects, from punishment to prevention. |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children records, CC 4, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Transferred from the Simmons College School of Social Work Library, 1991
Accession number: 93.006
Processed by Sheri Kelley, May 1993
Supervised by Megan Sniffin-Marinof and Peter Carini
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Frances Harrell, July 26, 2012
In 1874 a church worker brought a case against the abusive mother of a child named "Mary Ellen". The only way she could do this was to file her complaint under cruelty to animals statutes since there were laws punishing cruelty to animals but not cruelty to children. An immediate outcome of the imprisonment of Mary Ellen's mother was the organization in 1874 of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. A similar society was founded in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), a private charitable organization, was incorporated on April 23, 1878, "for the purpose of awakening interest in the abuses to which children are exposed by the intemperance, cruelty, or cupidity of parents and guardians, and to help the enforcement of existing laws on the subject, procure needed legislation, and for kindred work (p.15)."
For its first twenty-nine years the Society functioned as a part of the police force, by protecting children from physical cruelty and by prosecuting the offenders. In 1907 the Society's emphasis changed from legal to social aspects, from punishment to prevention. The Society still prosecuted abusers, but reformation received the major emphasis. Its dual role, therefore, was to protect the child, and at the same time persuade the parents to establish and maintain a "respectable" home.
All information taken from A Handbook of Useful Information, n.d., The MSPCC.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) records, 1911-(1911-1948)-1964, are arranged chronologically and include the annual reports and publications of the Society. The earlier reports, 1911-1914, list the names of contributors with the amount of their contribution and the annual reports for all the branches. The reports from 1914-1916 did not include the annual reports for the branches but did list the names and amounts donated by their benefactors. The reports for 1917-1926 list the number of children served by the branches and the expenses and contributions of each branch. The reports for 1927-1929 list the officers and addresses for each branch and the total amount of contributions and expenses for all the branches combined. The reports from 1911-1929 include case studies of children that were helped by the societies, descriptions of the society's homes and retreats, and photographs of children helped by the society and the conditions in which they lived. The reports from 1930 forward include only the total income and expenses for all the branches combined.
A handbook, a notice, and legislative results are included. A Handbook of Useful Information includes a history of the Society, its goals and purposes, the types of cases with which they dealt, and a description of the Children's Home. A notice of a law enacted on July 17, 1887, announces the law regarding peddling and begging children. >Legislative Results of the Massachusetts Special Commission to Investigate the Laws Relative to Children, 1931, shows the laws passed, changed, and lost or dropped during that year.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Part of the School of Social Work Library Charities Collection.
Box 1
Box 1
