By Anne M. Filiaci, Ph.D.
According to one of its founders, Ernest H. Crosby, the Social Reform Club “was formed [in 1894] by a few gentlemen who were of the opinion that in America too little consideration was shown the workingman.” Lillian Wald was an early member of the Club, which met regularly on Tuesday evenings at rooms on Bond Street in the West Village.
Invalid Displayed Gallery
By January of 1895, the SRC had “already enlisted nearly 200 members” who might join these weekly gatherings. Those who arrived early could grab a quick meal at the “crude and handy restaurant in the basement” before going upstairs to engage, as one member put it, in the same “arguments…again and again.” As another alumnus quipped, the gatherings soon became known as a venue where a large group of friends “‘talked interminably and occasionally dined.’”
The group did make some effort to ban abstract discussions on “general theories of society” or “social panaceas,” preferring instead to focus on more practical topics like “contract labor, municipal ownership of public utilities, tenement conditions, and so on.” They were not always successful. Simkhovitch remembers the Club as a place where “[single taxers and socialists always had their say—there was real freedom of discussion.”
Soon after its founding, the SRC refined its goals, promising ‘to consider, advocate, and forward such practical measures for the improvement of the industrial and social condition in the city of New York as can be undertaken in the immediate future with fair hope of success.’
When Wald later spoke and wrote about the SRC, she emphasized this “practical” nature of the club, insisting that the group’s goals aimed “at the immediate future,” working “solely for measures that had a fair promise of early success.” According to her, all who attended “were required” to not only talk but also do something about their beliefs—in other words, “to have ‘a deep active interest in the elevation of society, especially…the improvement of the condition of wage-earners.’” It was a perfect fit for Wald, who was by nature a “doer” rather than a “thinker.”
Headed by a group of well-known, prominent men, SRC leadership included Charles Spahr, author and associate editor of Outlook magazine and the club’s first president; gifted lawyer Edmund Kelley; Ernest Crosby, a former member of the New York State Assembly; and Felix Adler, founder of the Ethical Culture Society. Adler served on the club’s advisory board with Josephine Shaw Lowell, author William Dean Howells, and labor leader Samuel Gompers. Other prominent members included labor activist and educator Edward King, attorney and activist Edward Warren Ordway, muckraking journalist Jacob Riis, economist E.R.A. Seligman, journalist and editor Albert Shaw, and public parks and settlement activist Charles Stover. Wald, a young nurse still in her twenties when she joined the SRC, was a bit intimidated by the accomplishments of these august men, later proclaiming that she was initially “a shy and much impressed member” of the Club.
The SRC roster was not, however, limited to the well-known and well-heeled—it included “wage-earners and non-wage earners in almost equal numbers.” Neither was Wald its only young idealistic woman. Others included Mary Simkhovitch, who would later establish the Greenwich House settlement, and labor leader Leonora O’Reilly. It was “a younger generation,” Wald would later state, that “gained immeasurably from association with men and women who had given themselves unselfishly to the early labor movements in this country.”
The SRC’s guest lecturers ranked among the most prominent in reform society. Wald recalled that “On the club’s weekly programmes can be read the names of men and women who were then and still are bearers of light for the community.” These included Leonora O’Reilly, Josephine Shaw Lowell, Edward King, Ernest Crosby, and Charles Stover. Mary Simkhovitch wrote that “Andrew Furuseth told us of the injustices to seamen” while “Stover kept us busy with practical projects of park and highway reform.” Whatever the cause of each speaker, she noted, “the spirit of the whole group was free from social and political dogma, while bringing to light abuses that needed righting with at least some hint as to the way to correct them.”
The SRC’s openness to different reform ideas, as well as its balanced approach between high ideals and practical solutions, can be seen in the content and conduct of a mass meeting that it sponsored at Cooper Union on January 30, 1895. The meeting’s purpose was “to discuss the report of the” 1894 Tenement House Commission (THC) of New York City. The “large audience” in attendance that night consisted of “people of all classes who are interested in the question of providing better homes for workingmen in New-York City.”
After hearing a number of speakers—including representatives from both the Club and the Commission, as well as labor leader Samuel Gompers and single-taxer Henry George—the “audience showed a hearty approval of the reforms advocated by the Tenement House Commission.” At the end of the meeting they, as “citizens of New-York, in mass meeting assembled,” approved the Commission’s “recommendations.”
Their support of the THC’s practical, common-sense reforms did not mean, however, that the SRC was willing to forego its more idealistic goals. Those present wanted to make clear that the recommendations of the TRC were “only the first step in a long chain of steps.” They regretted “that the committee should not have dealt with certain of the larger aspects of the problem.” And, they urged further action on the matter, arguing that what was “especially” needed was “wise and far-sighted provision for the future to prevent the reduplication of present evils….” To this end, they resolved that
the time has now come for action by the municipality, whether directly by purchase of land in the outlying districts, to be reserved for homes for future generations of wage earners, or indirectly, by co-operation with societies and individuals for improvement of existing conditions.
The Social Reform Club provided a place where reformers could act in concert to support and to implement real and lasting improvements in the lives of working people in New York City. It provided Wald a place where she could learn about larger social movements, and smaller, more piecemeal attempts at reform. In spite of her initial shyness, the young nurse found a place where she could publicize and refine her own ideas about how to improve the conditions of her neighbors. Perhaps most importantly, however, the Social Reform Club was a place where Wald made valuable connections and met lifelong friends. As fellow member Mary Simkhovitch remembered, “‘To the members of that club…no other group will ever be so dear.’”
Bibliography
Alger, George W., “Lillian D. Wald: The Memories of an Old Friend,” typescript of address at Wald Memorial Services at Carnegie Hall, Sunday, Dec. 1, 1940, Wald, Lillian D., Papers, New York: New York Public Library [1983].
Allen, Annie Ware Winsor, 1865-1955. Papers, 1818-1979: A Finding Aid
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America,
Cambridge, MA: Radcliffe College, August 1981. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00088 Current 6/24/15
The Booker T. Washington Papers, Louis R. Harlan and Raymond W. Smock, eds. And Barbara S. Kraft, Assistant Ed., Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1977, v. 6 (1901-2).
Duffus, R.L., Lillian Wald: Neighbor and Crusader, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1939.
Daniels, Doris. Always a Sister: The Feminism of Lillian D. Wald. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1989.
“For Better Tenements: Work of the Special Commission Meets With Approval. Mass Meeting at Cooper Union. Trinity Corporation Criticised—Addresses by Ernest H. Crosby, Richard Watson Gilder, and Others.” New York Times, January 31, 1895.
“Honest Citizens’ Duties; Speeches Made to the Members of the Good Government Club B.,” New York Times, May 14, 1897. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C0DE1DB143DE633A25757C1A9639C94669ED7CF Current 6/24/15.
New York (State). Legislature. Assembly. Tenement House Commission, Report of the Tenement house committee as authorized by chapter 479 of the laws of 1894, Albany: James B. Lyon, State Printer, 1895. Full text at https://archive.org/details/reporttenementh00commgoog Current 6/25/15.
Shively, Charles, “Leonora O’Reilly,” entry in Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Edward T. James, Janet Wilson James, and Paul S. Boyer, eds., Cambridge, MA, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971, v. II.
Simkhovitch, Mary Kingsbury, Neighborhood: My Story of Greenwich House, NY: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1938.
Wald, Lillian D., The House on Henry Street, NY: Henry Holt & Co., 1915.
Waugh, Joan, Unsentimental Reformer: The Life of Josephine Shaw Lowell, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Illustrations
ADLER, DR. FELIX
Dr. Felix Adler, Chairman, N.C.L.C
- Digital ID: (color digital file from b&w original print) nclc 04844 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.04844
- Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-nclc-04844 (color digital file from b&w original print)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/nclc.04844/ Current 6/26/15
BOND STREET, GREENWICH VILLIAGE
Bond Street, Greenwich Village, 1875, NYPL http://dp.la/item/dc14dcd470df70d25be382f437045c5f or http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-8298-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 and http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-0286-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 and http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-42ff-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 and http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-4325-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 Current 6/25/15
COOPER UNION
– Art Gallery and Drawing Room; Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art, Third & Fourth Avenues, Astor Place, Seventh Street, New York, New York County, NY ; Digital ID: (None) hhh ny0359.photos.120064p http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ny0359/photos.120064p ;
Reproduction Number: HAER NY,31-NEYO,81—25; Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ny0359.photos.120064p/resource/
– Exterior of building; Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art, Third & Fourth Avenues, Astor Place, Seventh Street, New York, New York County, NY; Digital ID: (None) hhh ny0359.photos.120041p No known restrictions http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ny0359/photos.120041p
Reproduction Number: HAER NY,31-NEYO,81—2 ; Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.ny0359.photos.120041p/ Current 7/6/15
Interior of building; Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art, Third & Fourth Avenues, Astor Place, Seventh Street, New York, New York County, NY ;
Digital ID: (None) hhh ny0359.photos.120049p http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ny0359/photos.120049p
Reproduction Number: HAER NY,31-NEYO,81—10 ; Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ny0359.photos.120049p/resource/ Current 7/6/15
ETHICAL CULTURE SOCIETY
Ethical Culture Society
From Wikipedia, released into public domain by creator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_movement#/media/File:Ecsoncpw.JPG Current 6/26/15
From NYC DORIS, Ethical Culture School, BPM (Borough President Manhattan Collection, Identifier bpm_0535-1, Subject Central Park West, Description Looking northwest from 63rd Street (Ethical Culture School), Date Feb. 4, 1931
Link to Illustration Current 6/26/15
FURUSETH, ANDREW
Title: [Andrew Furuseth, 1854-1938, bust portrait, facing left]; Date Created/Published: 1918 June 16. Medium: 1 photographic print. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-53294 (b&w film copy neg.) Rights Advisory: Rights status not evaluated. For general information see “Copyright and Other Restrictions …,”(http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html) Call Number: Item in MSS Coll. [Manuscript RR] Repository: Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005696212/ Current 7/6/15
GEORGE, HENRY
Henry George, 1839-1897; Digital ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b26212 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b26212 Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-79139 (b&w film copy neg.) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002706986/resource/ Current 7/6/15
GOMPERS, SAMUEL
[Samuel Gompers, 1850-1924, half-length portrait, standing, facing left, and wife Sophia Julian Gompers] (no known restrictions on publication)
- Digital ID: (digital file from b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b08691 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b08691
- Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-61000 (b&w film copy neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, C. 20540 USA
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b08691/ Current 6/26/15
HOWELLS, WILLIAM DEAN
[William Dean Howells, 1837-1920, full length portrait, facing right, standing by grandfather clock] (no known restrictions on publication)
- Digital ID: (digital file from b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b11543 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b11543
- Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-63947 (b&w film copy neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, C. 20540 USA
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b11543/ Current 6/26/15
LOWELL, JOSEPHINE SHAW
Josephine Shaw Lowell:
Wikipedia images, public domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Josephine_Shaw_Lowell_1869.png Current 6/26/15
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Josephine_Shaw_and_Colonel_Lowell_1863.PNG Current 6/26/15
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Josephine_Shaw_Lowell.png Current 6/26/15
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Josephine_Shaw_Lowell_1899.png Current 6/26/15
RIIS, JACOB
Jacob Riis (no known restrictions on publication)
- Digital ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3a08818 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a08818
- Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-5511 (b&w film copy neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, C. 20540 USA
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a08818/ Current 6/26/15
SELIGMAN, EDWIN, ROBERT
File:Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman, 1910.jpg, from Wikipedia, no known copyright https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edwin_Robert_Anderson_Seligman,_1910.jpg Current 6/26/15
Ernest Howard Crosby, Library of Congress (see Wikipedia image and link for proper copyright citation) Ernest Howard Crosby, 1856-1907
- Digital ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b20608 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b20608
- Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-73277 (b&w film copy neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, C. 20540 USA
http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b20608/ Current 6/26/15
SHAW, ALBERT
Albert Shaw, Editor Review of Reviews
Ulmann, Doris, b.1882-1934, A Portrait Gallery of American Editors, 1925, 15.5 x 20 cm, Photogravure http://www.photogravure.com/collection/searchResults.php?page=1&artist=Ulmann,%20Doris&view=medium&file=Ulmann_04_06 Current 6/26/15
SHAW, ALBERT A., Contributor Names Harris & Ewing, photographer, Created / Published [between 1905 and 1945] Format Headings Glass negatives. Notes
– Title from unverified caption data received with the Harris & Ewing Collection.
– Date span based on active dates of Harris & Ewing, Inc.
– Portrait series.
– Gift; Harris & Ewing, Inc. 1955.
– General information about the Harris & Ewing Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.hec – Temp. note: Batch four. Medium 1 negative : glass ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller Call Number LC-H25- 43292-F [P&P] Source Collection
Harris & Ewing Collection (Library of Congress) Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Digital Id hec 18400 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.18400 Control Number
hec2009005098 Reproduction Number LC-DIG-hec-18400 (digital file from original negative) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication.
http://www.loc.gov/item/hec2009005098/ 6/26/15
SIMKHOVITCH, MARY KINGSBURY
Title
MARY KINGSBURY SIMKHOVITCH OF NEW YORK AND MRS. ROOSEVELT
Contributor Names Harris & Ewing, photographer Created / Published [1935]
Subject Headings – United States. – United States Format Headings Glass negatives.
Notes
– Title from unverified caption data on negative or negative sleeve.
– Date based on date of negatives in same range.
– Gift; Harris & Ewing, Inc. 1955.
– General information about the Harris & Ewing Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.hec
Medium 1 negative : glass ; 4 x 5 in. or smaller Call Number LC-H21- C-370 [P&P]
Source Collection Harris & Ewing Collection (Library of Congress) Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USAhttp://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Digital Id
hec 47068 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.47068 Control Number
hec2013015405 Reproduction Number LC-DIG-hec-47068 (digital file from original negative) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication.
http://www.loc.gov/item/hec2013015405/ Current 6/26/15
STOVER, CHARLES B.
Charles B. Stover bench in Central Park http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/charles-stover-bench.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/ Current 6/25/15
Title: Stover Summary Photo shows Charles Bunstein Stover (1861-1929), Parks Commissioner for New York City. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2010) Contributor Names Bain News Service, publisher Created / Published [no date recorded on caption card] Format Headings Glass negatives. Notes
– Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
– Title from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative.
– General information about the Bain Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain
Medium 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Call Number
LC-B2- 1169-15 [P&P] Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USAhttp://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Control Number
ggb2004005987 Reproduction Number LC-DIG-ggbain-05987 (digital file from original neg.) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication. http://www.loc.gov/item/ggb2004005987/ Current 6/26/15
TENEMENT HOUSES
Homes of the poor ; Harper’s Weekly cover illus. 1883; Digital ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b22432 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b22432
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-75197 (b&w film copy neg.) http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b22432/ Current 7/6/15
Copyright Anne M. Filiaci 2016