108   Women in American History
Goldmark recruited Brandeis to advise the NCL on le- See also Factory Workers; Kelley, Florence; National
gal matters and to defend Muller v. Oregon. As a writer,
Goldmark often referenced scientific and social data in
NCL publications and campaigns. Together, Kelley
and Brandeis compiled the nonlegal scientific evidence
and wrote the landmark brief to support the case.
Brandeis went on to become a Supreme Court justice,
while Goldmark served on the committee investigating
the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in New York City and au-
thored a book on the social and economic impact of
overworked laborers. Florence Kelley continued her
work for child labor laws, factory safety laws, and an
eight-hour workday until her death in 1932.
Keri Dearborn
Muller v. Oregon (1908)
In Muller v. Oregon, which was decided on February
24, 1908, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld restrictions
that Oregon put on the working hours of women.
The state justified this action by claiming that
such limitations promoted the state’s interest in pro-
tecting women’s health. Many feminists criticized
the ruling because it set a precedent by using differ-
ences between the sexes, particularly a woman’s
ability to bear children, as a basis for separate legisla-
tion regarding women, thus supporting the idea that
the family took priority over a woman’s rights as a
worker.
The peculiar value of a written constitution is that it
places, in unchanging form, limitations upon legisla-
tive action, questions relating to which are not set-
tled by even a consensus of public opinion; but when
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the extent of one of those limitations is affected by a
question of fact which is debatable and debated, a
widespread and long continued belief concerning
that fact is worthy of consideration.
This Court takes judicial cognizance of all matters
of general knowledge—such as the fact that woman’s
physical structure and the performance of maternal
functions place her at a disadvantage which justifies
Welch, Rosanne. Women in American History: a Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 Volumes], edited by Peg A. Lamphier, and Rosanne Welch,
ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wichita/detail.action?docID=4776516.
Created from wichita on 2022-05-02 16:08:18.
Woman’s Party; Paul, Alice; Sheppard-Towner Mater-
nity and Infancy Act; Triangle Shirtwaist Fire; Vol. 2,
Sec. 1: Suffrage Movement; Vol. 2, Sec. 3: National
Consumers League; Vol. 4, Sec. 1: Carson, Rachel;
Vol. 4, Sec. 2: Equal Rights Amendment
Further Reading
Koven, Seth, and Sonya Michel. 1993. Mothers of a
New World: Maternalist Politics and the Origins
of Welfare States. New York: Routledge.
Woloch, Nancy. 1996. Muller v. Oregon: A Brief His-
tory with Documents. Boston: Bedford Books of
St. Martin’s.
a difference in legislation in regard to some of the
burdens which rest upon her.
As healthy mothers are essential to vigorous off-
spring, the physical wellbeing of woman is an object
of public interest. The regulation of her hour of labor
falls within the police power of the State, and a stat-
ute directed exclusively to such regulation does not
conflict with the due process or equal protection
clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The right of a State to regulate the working hours
of women rests on the police power and the right to
preserve the health of the women of the State, and is
not affected by other laws of the State granting or
denying to women the same rights as to contract and
the elective franchise as are enjoyed by men.
While the general liberty to contract in regard to
one’s business and the sale of one’s labor is protected
by the Fourteenth Amendment, that liberty is subject to
proper restrictions under the police power of the State.
The statute of Oregon of 1903 providing that no
female shall work in certain establishments more
than ten hour a day is not unconstitutional so far as
respects laundries.
Source: Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908).