The industrial growth that followed the Civil War created crowded urban areas and led to poverty on a scale never before witnessed in the United States. Cities were filled with rural and immigrant poor families required to live in unsanitary and unsafe housing and work in dangerous factories. Then, in 1873, an economic depression in Europe combined with the turbulence of the post-Civil War years, led to a collapse of the American economy and what is known as “The Long Depression.” Banks and businesses failed, unemployment rose to 14% and those who retained their jobs saw wages cut to as little as one dollar per day.
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Written by Michael Barga. The Children’s Aid Society of Pennsylvania (CAS of PA) was formed in 1882 and was one of the first organizations dedicated to the care of children. The organization’s work has combined policy and direct service over the years, and the Society’s responsiveness to communal needs is especially highlighted through their efforts in times of war, depression, and social discord.
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“Educational Alliance: A History of a Lower East Side Settlement House,” by EJ Sampson. “The Educational Alliance…balanced the growing professionalization of settlement house work by becoming community-based, and kept its emphasis on encouraging public civic culture even as in other ways it aligned with a social service “agency” model. And it kept it eyes on its Jewish origins not only in its neighborhood work, but in negotiating its internal ethos. “
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History of State Boards (1863 – 1891) Report of Committee at the Twentieth Annual Session of the National Conference of Charities and Correction in 1893 Committee Members: Oscar Craig, New York; W. F. Slocum, Jr., Colorado; Herbert A. Forrest, Michigan; Samuel G. Smith, Minnesota; M. D. Follett, Ohio. Ed. Note: This entry was condensed…
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The Relation Of The National Conference Of Charities And Correction To The Progress Of The Past Twenty Years — Part II By Hastings H. Hart, President Ed. Note: This entry was condensed and divided into two parts from the original text of the President’s Address at the National Conference of Charities and Correction Twentieth Annual…
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The Relation of the National Conference Of Charities and Correction to the Progress of the Past Twenty Years (1873-1893) By Hastings H. Hart, President Editor’s note: Hastings H. Hart was at the time Secretary of the Minnesota State Board of Corrections and Charities. At this twentieth meeting of the National Conference of Charities and Correction we…
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This entry was copied with permission from the book “This Far By Love: The Amazing Story of Lutheran Social Services of Michigan” by Nancy Manser. Motivated to serve others as an expression of the love of Christ, Lutheran Social Services of Michigan continues today to help those in need regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or national origin.
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Written by Michael Barga. “The vision of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church has remained consistent throughout its existence and is a strongly social and service-oriented spiritual community.”
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The Contribution Of The Community Chest To Community Welfare Planning By Rowland Haynes, Secretary, University of Chicago A Paper Presented at the The National Conference of Social Work Formerly National Conference of Charities and Correction at The Fifty-Fifth Annual Session Held in Memphis, Tennessee May 2-9, 1928 The theme of the entire program of meetings…
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This description of Henry Street Settlement in 1910-1911 is largely copied from the “Handbook of Settlements” written by two settlement house pioneers: Robert Archey Woods and Albert J. Kennedy. The handbook included the findings of a national survey of all the known settlements in existence in 1910 and was published by The Russell Sage Foundation of New York in 1911.
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