because of his physical abuse and overflowing debt. Unable to divorce her husband for "non-support," she fled to Chicago and received full custody of her children. She kept her maiden name but preferred to be called "Mrs. Kelley." Education In her early years, she was severely sick and highly susceptible to infections and so was unable to go to school for a period of time. On days that she would miss school she would be in her father's library and read many books. In 1882, Kelley attended Cornell University at age 16. At Cornell, she was a Phi Beta Kappa member. There, she wrote her thesis about disadvantaged children. The topic of her thesis was influenced by her father's teaching about underprivileged children. Although Kelley desired to study law at the University of Pennsylvania, she was refused admission because of her gender. In the meantime, she pursued her passion for working women by founding and attending evening classes at the New Century Guild for Working Women. Later, she attended the University of Zurich, the first European university to grant degrees to women, and she joined a group of students advocating socialism. Kelley also earned a law degree at Northwestern University School of Law in 1894. She was then able to start a school for working girls in Pennsylvania. Socialism and civil rights Kelley was a member of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, an activist for women's suffrage and African-American civil rights. She was a follower of Karl Marx and a friend of Friedrich Engels. Her 1885 translation of the latter's The Condition of the Working Class in England into English was published with Engels' approval in 1887, under her married name "Mrs. F. Kelley Wischnewetzky," and is still used today. After college, Kelley assisted with the establishment of the New Century Guild branch of Philadelphia, along with Gabrielle D. Clements and led by Eliza Sproat Turner. It had classes and programs to assist working women. Kelley herself taught evening classes there. The New Century Guild intended to increase the quality of working and living condition of the lower class in urban areas. The organization helped lead the battle for labor laws, such as the minimum wage and the eight-hour days, at the local, state, and federal levels. After moving to New York City with her husband and children, Kelley organized a campaign by the New York Working Women's Society in 1889