In 1874, the first documented case of child abuse occurred in New York with Mary Ellen Wilson. This led to the creation of the non-governmental New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Similar organizations were created across the country, with over 300 in place by 1922. In 1912, the federal government created the Children’s Bureau, in order to investigate & report on matters of the welfare of children; this was the first time the federal government played a part in taking responsibility for the welfare of children.

In 1962, Dr. C. Henry Kempe & Brandt F. Steele published “The Battered Child Syndrome” article through the Journal of American Medical Association, exposing the reality of child abuse and giving doctors ways to identify, understand, and report child abuse. By 1967, all 50 states had passed legislation mandating reporting of child abuse in some form.

In 1974, The Child Abuse Protection & Treatment Act was passed on the federal level, providing funding to states for prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse. It now provides the minimum standard for child maltreatment definitions across the nation. It was also through this process that the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (now the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect) was created in order to be the forefront of addressing the national problem of child abuse.

Congress designated June 6-12, 1982 as the first National Child Abuse Prevention Week. In 1983, April was formally designated at the first Child Abuse Prevention Month.

In 1989, the Blue Ribbon Campaign was started by a grandmother in Virginia in honor of her grandson who passed away as a result of child abuse. She tied a blue ribbon to her car’s antenna.

Today, the color blue is widely used to represent Child Abuse Prevention.

A more in-depth history of the Child Abuse Protection & Treatment Act, or overviews of the past National Conferences of Child Abuse & Neglect can be found here: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/child-abuse-neglect/nccan