De Graffenried, Clare (1849–1921)

views updated

De Graffenried, Clare (1849–1921)

American social investigator. Name variations: Mary Clare De Graffenried. Born May 19, 1849, in Macon, Georgia; died April 26, 1921, in Washington, DC; dau. of William Kirkland de Graffenried and Mary Hold (Marsh) de Graffenried; graduate with honors from Wesleyan Female College, 1865.

Became investigator for Bureau of Labor (1886); became 1 of 20 special investigators to serve under 1st commissioner of labor at Department of Labor (1888); primarily investigated labor conditions among women and children, housing conditions, and cost of living; wrote periodical articles based on her statistical findings, the best-known of which was "The Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mills" (Century Magazine, 1891).

More From encyclopedia.com