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Social Welfare Developments, 1851-1900

1851 Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) organized in Boston, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act Adopted. 1852 New York Childrens Aid Society is founded by Charles Loring Brace and began sending abandoned children to homes and farms in the Western U.S. 1855 The Government Hospital for the Insane established (later became St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of…

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Social Welfare Developments, 1800-1850

1803 The first permanent Marine hospital is authorized to be built in Boston, Massachusetts. 1816 The New York Society for the Prevention of Poverty is established.  The organization was to identify and eliminate the specific causes of poverty in New York City. 1817 Gallaudet University for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the first free U.S….

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Social Welfare Developments in the 1700s

1729 Establishment of the first orphanage for girls founded by the Ursuline Sisters in New Orleans to care for survivors of a nearby massacre 1751 The Pennsylvania Hospital is founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin “…to care for the sick-poor and insane who were wandering the streets of Philadelphia.” 1773 First…

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Social Welfare Developments in the 1600s

1601 Enactment of the English Poor Law, requiring parish governments to tax households in order to care for the “worthy” poor. A system of public “outdoor” relief that was carried to the Colonies. 1619 First Africans arrive in Virginia as indentured servants for plantation owners. 1624 Virginia Colony passes the first legislation recognizing services and…

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March on Washington, D.C. August 28, 1963

On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people from across the nation came together in Washington, D.C. to peacefully demonstrate their support for the passage of a meaningful civil rights bill, an end to racial segregation in schools and the creation of jobs for the unemployed.

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