Dyess Honors Child Abuse Prevention Month

  • Published
  • By 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
  • 7th Bomb Wing
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  By now, you might have head that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. You may have even seen blue ribbons around Dyess Air Force Base to show support. But how many of you know the history behind the movement?
For example did you know that the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was involved with the first child abuse case? Or that a grandmother was the one who started the blue ribbon campaign?

It all started in New York in 1874 with a little girl named Mary Ellen Wilson, a nurse named Etta Wheeler and Henry Bergh, the founder and president of the ASPCA. Mary Ellen’s father died shortly after she was born and her mother boarded her with Mary Score. When her mother could not make payments, Mary Ellen was turned over to the Department of Charities. The Department placed Mary Ellen with Mary and Thomas McCormack. Thomas McCormack died shortly thereafter and Mary married Francis Connolly. The Connolly couple beat Mary Ellen on a daily basis. Her cries could be heard by the neighbors who called police; but no help came.

One of the neighbors told a visiting nurse; Etta Wheeler and she contacted Henry Bergh. Bergh sent an investigator (who posed as a census worker to gain access) to the home. The investigator confirmed Wheeler’s story and Bergh contacted an attorney who took the case to court.

Mary Ellen was removed from the home and appeared in court dressed in ragged clothing with bruises all over her body and a gash over her left eye. She testified that her parents were dead and she did not know her age. She could not remember when she did not live with the Connolly’s who whipped and beat her every day. She stated in court, “I do not want to go back to live with mamma because she beats me so.”

Mary Ellen was permanently removed from the Connolly home and raised by the Spencer family. Mary Ellen’s case led to the establishment of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. In the 1960s, the US government passed legislation requiring child abuse reporting in all states. In 1974, The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act was signed into law and established the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, which is the basis for our laws against child abuse today.

The Blue Ribbon campaign started with a Virginia grandmother named Bonnie Finney in 1989. Finney’s three-year old grandson, Michael “Bubba” Dickenson’s battered body was found at the bottom of a canal. He died from injuries inflicted by Finney’s daughter’s violent boyfriend. Finney tied a blue ribbon on the antenna of her van in memory of her grandson and her silent statement spread and led to what we now know as the Blue Ribbon Campaign. When asked why she chose the color blue to make her statement, she replied “I never intend to forget the battered, bruised body of my grandson. Bruises are black, then eventually blue. Therefore, blue serves as a constant reminder to me to fight for our children.” It is amazing how a single person can change the way society thinks and it is the same with the military child.


Now, the next time you see a blue ribbon or hear someone talking about Child Abuse Prevention you will have the inside scoop. Remember, pass this information to others because education is prevention, and prevention is the key to stopping child abuse and neglect in our society.

For more information, please contact the Dyess Family Advocacy Program:

Sue Ann Simmons, LCSW, CAS
Family Advocacy Outreach Manager
DSN: 461-5380
Com: (325) 696-5380