Source: The National Consumers' League Role in the Muller Case, 1908

. . . The case was appealed, and appealed again, by the laundryman, and finally reached the Supreme Court of the United States. Then the Consumers' League took a hand.

The brief for the State of Oregon . . . was prepared by Louis S. Brandeis, of Boston, assisted by Josephine Goldmark, one of the most effective workers in the League's New York Headquarters. This brief is probably one of the most remarkable legal documents in existence. It consists of one hundred and twelve printed pages, of which a few paragraphs were written by the attorney for the State. All the rest was contributed, under Miss Goldmark's direction, from the Consumers' League's wonderful collection of reasons why women workers should be protected. . . . The Consumers' League convinced the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Oregon ten-hour law was upheld. . . .

Waitresses' Union, Local No. 484, of Chicago, led by a remarkable young working woman, Elizabeth Maloney . . . drafted, and introduced into the Illinois Legislature, a bill providing an eight-hour working day for every woman in the State . . .

The "Girls' Bill," as it immediately became known, was the most hotly contested measure passed by the Illinois Legislature during the session. Over 500 manufacturers appeared at the public hearing on the bill . . . presenting the business aspect of the question; the girls showed the human side. . . .

"I am a waitress," said Miss Maloney, "and I work ten hours a day. In that time a waitress who is tolerably busy walks ten miles, and the dishes she carries back and forth aggregate in weight 1,500 to 2,000 pounds. Don't you think eight hours a day is enough for a girl to walk?" . . .