Mary Ellen was a nine-year-old girl in 1874 whose sad story had a happy ending.

A nurse who worked in the poor neighborhood of New York where Mary Ellen lived, and concerned neighbors, began to be aware of Mary Ellen's plight. Her abusive parents had beaten her, kept her chained to a bedpost, and she was underfed.

The nurse and local church members told of Mary Ellen's life to the district attorney in hopes of getting the child taken away from her parents. They were astonished to find there was no law in place to enable police to do so.

Ironically, animals did have protective rights through the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, these advocates discovered. They decided to approach the Society, stating that since Mary Ellen was a member of the animal kingdom they could help her. The Society was able to do so.

When Mary Ellen was removed from her home, she was taken on a stretcher because she was too weak to walk.

When the public heard that animals that were cruelly treated had more rights than children, there was a public outcry. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was formed, and by 1900 there were 161 such groups in the U.S.

In the 1930s, the Social Security Act began to make funds available for the prevention and treatment of child abuse. But it was not until 1968, when Dr. C. Henry Kempe and Ray E. Helfer's book The Battered Child was published, that people began to be aware of and believe that parents and caregivers truly could and did physically abuse their children.

When other doctors avoided the topic, Dr. Kempe bravely studied what doctors had been seeing for decades: some children's injuries were of such a nature that they could not have been caused by anything other than being physically or sexually abused by an adult.

Much has happened since then, and of course, much more needs to be done. Since the 1970s, efforts of child advocates have blossomed into an ever-burgeoning movement to save the children.

Yes, I know we have a long road ahead of us in our ultimate goal to end all child abuse. There are days when we're all weary of hearing the latest story of a child who was severely abused, and we wonder how much progress we're making.

But we have come a long way since the days of Mary Ellen, and our efforts can have even more good results faster. In both of these historical cases--when Mary Ellen had to be removed from her home under animals' protective rights, and when a brave doctor asserted that he had seen children who could have been injured no other way than by their parents--people became aware of what they didn't know was happening.

Here's an idea. As an advocate, you're devoting time to helping improve and save the lives of children. Now think of ways you can get more people on board for the cause, help get more financial assistance for the cause, and to spread the word that more must be done. Sure, it will take a little extra time, but we all know it will be worth it.

Let's do it because there are still Mary Ellens out there who have no one but us to give them hope.