In 1875, The NYSPCC was created as the first child protection agency in the world. At that time the Society was the first to protect children from abuse, utilizing the legal system. Before the creation of The NYSPCC, child abuse and neglect was considered a family matter and there was no one to intervene on behalf of the child.

In 1874, a young girl known only as "Mary Ellen", was found tied to a bed like an animal, neglected and brutally beaten by her foster parents. In 1874, animals were legally protected from inhumane treatment, children weren't. That is until a small group of concerned citizens in New York City came together in 1875 to become the first organized child protective institution in the country -- The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

 Mary Ellen Speaks: The following is an excerpt from the testimony of Mary Ellen in a New York City courtroom, in 1874. "My name is Mary Ellen McCormack. I don't know how old I am... I have never had but one pair of shoes, but I can't recollect when that was. I have no shoes or stocking this winter... I have never had on a particle of flannel. My bed at night is only a piece of carpet, stretched on the floor underneath a window, and I sleep in my little undergarment, with a quilt over me. I am never allowed to play with any children or have any company whatever. Mamma has been in the habit of whipping and beating me almost every day. She used to whip me with a twisted whip, a raw hide. The whip always left black and blue marks on my body. I have now on my head two black and blue marks which were made by mamma with the whip, and a cut on the left side of my forehead which was made by a pair of scissors in mamma's hand. She struck me with the scissors and cut me. I have no recollection of ever having been kissed, and have never been kissed by mamma. I have never been taken on my mamma's lap, or caressed or petted. I have never dared to speak to anybody, because if I did I would get whipped... Whenever mamma went out I was locked up in the bedroom... I have no recollection of ever being in the street in my life."

 A Happy Ending: After Mary Ellen told her story in court, her foster mother was prosecuted for assault and battery. Mary Ellen was placed into a new home in upstate New York and grew up a normal child. She became a favorite to all those who knew her. At twenty-four she married and had two daughters of her own. She also adopted a third orphaned child. Her daughters reported that Mary Ellen was always reluctant to speak of her past, but she did show them the scars of burns on her arms and the scissors scar was always noticeable on her face. It was her pride and joy to be able to provide her own daughters with a happy childhood in contrast to her own. Mary Ellen died in 1956, at the age of 92.