McKelway, Alexander Jeffrey (1866-1918)

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Written by (2)
Mentioned in (4)
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Owen Reed Lovejoy and Alexander Jeffrey McKelway to Jane Addams, January 25, 1910

Alexander Jeffrey McKelway to Jane Addams, October 5, 1912

Ten Years' Experience in Illinois, March 12, 1911

Jane Addams to Lillian D. Wald, April 12, 1912

Jane Addams to Catharine Waugh McCulloch, April 15, 1912

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Jane Addams, September 15, 1914

Comments

Birth Date

1866-10-06

Death Date

1918-04-16

Birthplace

Salisbury, Pennsylvania

Biographical Text

Alexander J. McKelway was born in Pennsylvania but was raised in Virginia. He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1886, and then from Union Theological Seminary in 1891, becoming a Presbyterian minister. As a minister, he advocated for things such as temperance and social welfare. He then worked as an editor and writer for The Presbyterian Standard and The Charlotte News. McKelway was also a Southern regional organizer of the National Child Labor Committee, and in 1909 he moved to Washington, D.C. to create the United States Children's Bureau.

McKelway was married to Lavinia Rutherford Smith, and they had five children together, one of which was writer St. Clair McKelway. McKelway died in 1918.

Occupation

Child welfare activist

Clergyman

Editor

Journalist

Collection

People

Map

Edited By

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Male

First appears

1910

Bibliography and Links

Documenting the American South

SNAC

Wikipedia

Citation

“McKelway, Alexander Jeffrey (1866-1918),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed August 13, 2025, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/2665.