The Cabinet

The online catalog of the Rhode Island Historical Society

Collection Catalog

Add additional search criteria below and press enter:

Record 1 of 1

Accessibility:
Title:
  • Margaret Ackroyd Papers
Author/Creator:
  • Ackroyd, Margaret
Call Number:
  • MSS 251
Record Level:
  • Collection
Physical Description:
  • .25 ft.
  • HB, 1 vol.
Inclusive Dates:
  • 1930-1940
Bulk Dates:
  • 1938-1970
Summary:
  • Papers of Margaret F. Ackroyd, Chief of the Division of Women and Children, R.I. Department of Labor, 19381970.
Historical Note:
  • Margaret (O'Connor) Ackroyd was the Chief of the Division of Women and Children and the Commisioner of Minimum Wage for the Rhode Island Department of Labor from 1943-1968. In this capacity she dealt with laws governing the employment of women and minors including the Child Labor Law, the Minimum Wage Law, the Industrial Homework Law, the 48-Hour Law and the Equal Pay Law. During her career, she was also on the Women's Advisory Committee in Washington on Defense Manpower. She was the Minimum Wage Chairman of the International Association of Government Labor Officials and a member of The National Advisory Committee on Young Workers. She was the Executive Secretary of the Consumer's League of Rhode Island and was on the Board of Directors of the National Consumer's League. She was a member of the Speakers Bureau o fthe Rhode Island Citizens Committee for Full Registration and on the Executive COmmittee of the Rhode Island Committee on Children and Youth. She was a member of the State Comission on the Aged and the Finance Chair of the Rhode Island Camps. After retirement MRs. Ackroyd continued to be active speaking at symposiums and was a roving ambassador for the U.S. Department of Labor. She took a job with the Women's Bureau in Washington, D.C. and in the early 1970s served as a consultant to the Organization of American States on labor issues involving women in Panama, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. Margaret Ackroyd was born in Providence, R.I. on January 15, 1908 to Timothy and Mary (McKenna) O'Connor. She was a graduate of Hope High School in Providence and the Rhode Island State College, (now the University of Rhode Island). She graduated in 1929 with a degree in Economics. She married her college classmate, Frederick Ackroyd and they had two sons; Frederick William, born in 1930 and James, born in 1952. Mrs. Ackroyd died July 4, 1995. She had thirteen grandchildren.
Scope and Content:
  • The collection is composed of documents relating to Margaret F. Ackroyd's work life. It consists primarily of newspaper articles stored in two scrapbooks and one folder of loose items (dates were not always included.) Seven folders contain items relating to her career. One folder contains work-related corrospondance. One folder contains a few personal items. One folder contains reports either written by her, that she co-wrote, or that wer written for her perusal. The "Forms" folder are forms that she appears to have designed and relate to the reports. Several published documents, removed from the collection, were co-written by her (see related materials). Scrapbook 2 contains a few newspaper articles about R.I. social activist Alice Winsor Hunt's 75th birthday celebration.
Subjects:
Accession Number:
  • 1981.102.1-
Provenance:
  • Gift of Margaret F. Ackroyd in 1981.
Permanent Record Link:
Record Group Tree: