[PW] 19th cent. court case?

[swguardian-wombat at yahoo.com]

Not the case, but there is a mention about it in Theatre Survey  (2001), 42: 53-68 Cambridge University Press. 

Abstract: During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, there was a major effort in the United States to remove child performers from professional stages. The campaign began in New York State with the passage of An Act to Prevent and Punish Wrongs to Children (1876), prohibiting children from a variety of performance venues, and subsequently grew into a nationwide crusade. The movement was spearheaded by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (SPCC) and its leader, Elbridge T. Gerry. The intense response of the theatre industry resulted in a protracted political struggle.

This bit of it was picked up from a Google search, "...the Tivoli Theatre a child circus performer called Prince Leo. The young boy. had been purchased from his parents by acrobat Walla Leonard, who used ..."

AllenAmet at aol.com wrote: Hi,
 
  Does anyone on the List have access to that digitized database  (Lexis?) of 
old court cases?
 
  This one in question dates from 1875-1876, and occurred in New York  State. 
I think it was one of the first such cases filed by the Society for the  
Prevention of Cruelty to Children (SPCC); it was listed, apparently, in their  
First Annual Report.
 
  It involved a child acrobat named "Prince Leo" and the case was  prosecuted 
by them against a trapeze artist named Walla Leonard (aka  Wallington 
Husband). The child (7 years old?) had been performing at  the Tivoli Theatre in NYC, 
and there were complaints about the boy's  mistreatment (following an earlier 
'Prince Leo' in Philadelphia). It would be  very helpful to see if the 
Defendant's words were preserved in some way. There  was a 2001 article on this 
landmark case and it may have contained the case  citations ('New York's 1876 Act 
to  Prevent and Punish Wrongs to Children').
 
Thanks.

Allen
 



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