[PW] 19th cent. court case?

[Bill Davis]

There are a couple of free articles from the New York Times online 
about the case.   They contain some statements from the boy, but not 
the defendant.   Perhaps there were other articles published at the 
time that quoted the defendant.

The title of the article you mentioned appears to be the subtitle of 
GOOD INTENTIONS AND FEARSOME PREJUDICE:

Good Intentions and Fearsome Prejudice: New York's 1876 Act to 
Prevent and Punish Wrongs to Children

Shauna Vey
City University of New York
Theatre Survey (2001), 42: 53-68
Published online by 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.

http://tinyurl.com/55mqae


Bill Davis





> > [Original Message]
> > From: <AllenAmet at aol.com>
> > To: <list at project-wombat.org>
> > Date: 7/16/2008 2:01:11 PM
> > Subject: [PW] 19th cent. court case?
> >
> > 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').