In 1905, the American Association for Labor Legislation was conceived by a small group of economists. Initially their goal was "the study of labor conditions and labor legislation in the United States." The AALL charter was drawn up and signed on February 15, 1906, by 21 charter members who included
Mary Van Kleeck. The AALL comprised three groups: a General Administrative Council, an Executive Committee, and General Officers. In a sense, the AALL was "proto-
think tank": The AALL was one of the first organizations that might be classified as a think tank. The appellation of first think tank is usually given to the Brookings Institute [recte Brookings Institution], the forerunner to which was founded in 1916. Given the subsequent development of that region of the public sphere, it is probably correct to say so. The AALL, however, was a historical alternative to the Brookings model of the think tank. Organized as a quasi-professional association rather than a foundation entrusted by philanthropists or corporate interests, the leaders of the AALL viewed policy involvement as an aim and requirement of academic social science. In 1912
Theodore Roosevelt included social insurance for sickness in the platform of his
Progressive Party (United States, 1912). Around 1915 the group American Association for Labor Legislation attempted to introduce a medical insurance bill to some state legislatures. These attempts were not successful, and as a result controversy about national insurance came about. National groups supporting the idea of government health insurance included the
AFL–CIO, the
American Nurses Association,
National Association of Social Workers, and the
Socialist Party USA. The most prominent opponent of national medical insurance was the
American Medical Association (AMA); others included the
American Hospital Association, the
US Chamber of Commerce, and the Life Insurance Association of People. The American Association for Labor Legislation continued to take part in the
health advocacy. For example, in 1917, they proposed a national health insurance act that included a provision for weekly cash allocations for pregnant women. In 1943, the AALL became inactive with the death of its three-decade secretary John Bertram Andrews and shut down in 1945. ==Successes==