Keating–Owen Act
U.S. federal legislation prohibiting child labor
The Keating–Owen Child Labor Act of 1916, also known as Wick's Bill, was a short-lived statute enacted by the U.S. Congress which sought to reduce child labor. It did so by prohibiting the sale in interstate commerce of goods produced by factories that employed children under 14, mines that employed children younger than 16, and any facility where children under 14 worked after 7:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m. or more than eight hours daily. After its original failure to be enacted, the bill was revised and re-introduced to Congress, where it was finally accepted. The basis for the action was the Commerce Clause, a constitutional clause giving Congress the task of regulating interstate commerce.
The Act specified that the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Labor would convene a board to publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations to comply with the Act. To enforce the Act, the Secretary of Labor would assign inspectors to perform inspections of workplaces that produce goods for commerce. The inspectors would have the authority to make unannounced visits and would be given full access to the facility in question. Anyone found in violation of this Act or who gave false evidence would be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.
The public source identifies “Keating–Owen Act” as u.S. federal legislation prohibiting child labor. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Keating, Owen and federal.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Keating–Owen Act”, the useful work is to connect “u.S. federal legislation prohibiting child labor” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6382334. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1916.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Keating–Owen Act”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Keating–Owen Act primary sources, Keating–Owen Act archive and Keating research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Keating–Owen Act”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Keating–Owen Act” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.