ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 explores our first in-depth case study: the 1903 “March of the Mill Children,” led by iconic labor organizer Mary “Mother” Jones and targeted at President Theodore Roosevelt. Despite the prominent rhetors involved, this case study has received only glancing attention from other scholars. The chapter first sets the historical context, identifying the societal backdrop of child labor and broad dimensions of the reform movement. The chapter then details the journey of several dozen children and adult chaperones from Philadelphia to Oyster Bay, New York, where Roosevelt was summering. Along the route, the chapter locates all three constructs of the book’s theory in the protest movement’s communication – including public speeches, protest signs, and body and visual rhetorics. The chapter also discusses other rhetorical dimensions of the case, including questions of agency and ethics. The chapter concludes by analyzing the rhetorical force of the march, including its effect on one of its key audiences: then-president Theodore Roosevelt, who, after he left office, would go on to advocate for child labor reform using the same appeals to moral obligation and natality.
