SUBJECT FILES, 1920-1979

Summary: Documentation of various areas of League investigation and advocacy. Includes material generated by League committees, and items received from other organizations and individuals and kept for reference purposes.

Document types include correspondence, reports, notes, conference material, pamphlets, fliers, committee meeting minutes, press releases, newsletters, legal briefs, court opinions, statements, and copies of testimony given before government bodies.

Subjects covered include the structure of New Jersey government departments, sanitation and working conditions in industry, health care, consumer protection legislation, equal rights for women, inspection of meat, poultry and milk, packaging standards, price controls, migrant labor, industrial homework, housing, automobile insurance, lead poisoning, civil defense, the New Jersey constitution, occupational safety, and unemployment compensation.

Major areas documented in this series include Industrial Health (1923-1949), which contains information concerning radium poisoning and the expansion of workers' compensation laws to cover all job-related health problems; Industrial Homework (1923-1950 and 1969-1971), which documents attempts to regulate the conditions and wages paid to workers in the home; and Night Work (1920-1951), which concerns the League's support of legislation which restricted women's work at night.

The League was also involved in the areas of Unemployment Compensation (1936-1967) and Occupational Safety (1928-1977), including the creation of the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Equal Rights (1923-1963) refers to the League's opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, which it felt would jeopardize protective labor legislation for women.

Also documents the League's support of Fair Packaging (1965-1968) and Weights and Measures (1961-1978) legislation to standardize descriptions of size and weight on product labels. The League also supported Meat and Poultry Inspection (1957-1975). In addition, the series contains information concerning Milk Price Control (1960-1977), though the League never took a formal stand on this subject.

Food Producers vs. Male (bulk 1959-1961) documents an attempt to have the Migrant Labor Law declared unconstitutional, while Ackerman Dairies vs. Kandle (1969) concerns a challenge to milk dating. The original statute was upheld in both cases.

Also documents the League's work with other organizations, such as the New Jersey Defense Council (1940-1942), a group created during World War II to help facilitate the war effort; the Citizens Health Council, an inter-organizational body which coordinated the exchange of health information; and the Labor Standards Committee (1931-1942), an inter-organizational committee formed to sponsor labor legislation. The League also played a part in the 1947 revision of the New Jersey Constitution, and was involved in the 1970s movement to reform the New Jersey Legislature (1973-1976). The Office of Economic Opportunity files (1964-1966) refer to the creation of this temporary office in accordance with the Federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 to initiate and modify state programs.

Of particular interest is the Candy White List (1928-1932), which includes a listing of candy companies that met or exceeded standards of cleanliness and wages, as well as reports on specific companies by League investigators.