Lillian D. Wald (March 10, 1867 – 1940) was a nurse; social worker; public health official; teacher; author; editor; publisher; activist for peace, women's, children's and civil rights; and the founder of American community nursing. Her unselfish devotion to humanity is recognized around the world and her visionary programs have been widely copied.
Young life and education:
Wald was born into a comfortable, German-Jewish middle-class family in Cincinnati, Ohio, (her father was an optical dealer). In 1878, she moved with her family to Rochester, New York. She attended Miss Cruttenden's English-French Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies; upon graduation she tried to enter Vassar College but was denied, as the school thought her too young at 16. In 1889, she attended New York Hospital's School of Nursing. She graduated from the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1891, then took courses at the Woman’s Medical College.
Nursing career:
In 1893 after a period of working at the New York Juvenile Asylum–an orphanage where children were kept and conditions were poor–Ward started to teach a home class on nursing for poor immigrant families on the Lower East Side (New York). Not long after, she began to care for sick residents of the Lower East Side as a visiting nurse. Along with another nurse, Mary Brewster, she moved into a spartan room near her patients, in order to care for them better. In 1893 she also coined the term "public health nurse" to describe nurses whose work is integrated into the public community.
Wald extended this mission as founder of the Henry Street Settlement which later attracted the attention of Jacob Schiff, a prominent Jewish philanthropist who secretly provided her the means to help more effectively the "poor Russian Jews" whose care she provided. She was able to expand her work later, having 27 nurses on staff by 1906, and succeeded in attracting broader financial support from such gentiles as Elizabeth Milbank Anderson. By 1913 the staff had grown to 92 people. Ward worked in this area for 40 years.
Wald authored two books relating to this work, the first being The House on Henry Street, first published in 1911, followed by Windows on Henry Street in 1934. Both books went through numerous printings; modern reprints are available in both hard and paperback editions. Today, Lillian Wald is regarded as the founder of visiting nursing in the United States and Canada.
The Henry Street Settlement eventually expanded into the Visiting Nurse Service of New York City. As an advocate for nursing in public schools her ideas led to the New York Board of Health's organizing and running the first public nursing system in the world. She was the first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing. Wald established a nursing insurance partnership with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company that became a model for many other corporate projects, suggested a national health insurance plan, and helped found Columbia University’s School of Nursing.
Community outreach:
Not content to improve people's lives just through nursing, Wald also taught women how to cook and sew, provided recreational activities for families, and got involved in the labor movement. Out of her concern for women's working conditions, she helped to found the Women's Trade Union League in 1903 and later served as a member of the executive committee of the New York City League. In 1910, Wald and several colleagues went on a six-month tour of Hawaii, Japan, China, and Russia, a trip that increased her involvement in worldwide humanitarian issues.
In 1915, Wald founded the Henry Street Neighborhood Playhouse to serve as a cultural center. She also lobbied against child labor laws, to allow all children to attend school. She helped establish the United State Children’s Bureau, helped President Theodore Roosevelt create the Federal Children’s Bureau, and advocated for education of the mentally handicapped.
Advocacy:
Another of her concerns was the treatment of African-Americans. As a civil rights activist, Wald insisted that all Henry Street classes be racially integrated. She was one of the founders, in 1909, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The first major public conference to create the organization opened with a meeting at the Henry Street settlement.
An advocate for women's suffrage and for peace, Wald organized New York City campaigns for suffrage, marched to protest the United States’ entry into World War I, joined the Women's Peace Party and helped establish the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1915 she was elected president of the newly-formed American Union Against Militarism (AUAM) and after United States joined the war she remained involved with the AUAM's daughter organizations, the Foreign Policy Organization and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Legacy:
The New York Times named Wald as one of the 12 greatest living American women in 1922 and she later received the Lincoln Medallion for her work as an "Outstanding Citizen of New York.” In 1937 a radio broadcast celebrated Wald's 70th birthday; Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevelt read a letter from her son, President Franklin Roosevelt, in which he praised Wald for her “unselfish labor to promote the happiness and well being of others.”
Wald never married. She died in 1940 of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of seventy-three. Thousands mourned her passing at private and public meetings. Rabbi Stephen Wise of the Free Synagogue led a service at Henry Street's Neighborhood Playhouse. Dr. John L. Elliott led a private service at her Westport home. A few months later, 2,500 people filled Carnegie Hall to hear statements from the president, governor, mayor, and others testifying to Wald's ability to bring people together and effect change. She was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.
The Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D in Manhattan were named for her. The Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York continue the work she started more than a hundred years ago.
Bibliography:
The House on Henry Street (1911)
Windows on Henry Street (1934)
Young life and education:
Wald was born into a comfortable, German-Jewish middle-class family in Cincinnati, Ohio, (her father was an optical dealer). In 1878, she moved with her family to Rochester, New York. She attended Miss Cruttenden's English-French Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies; upon graduation she tried to enter Vassar College but was denied, as the school thought her too young at 16. In 1889, she attended New York Hospital's School of Nursing. She graduated from the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses in 1891, then took courses at the Woman’s Medical College.
Nursing career:
In 1893 after a period of working at the New York Juvenile Asylum–an orphanage where children were kept and conditions were poor–Ward started to teach a home class on nursing for poor immigrant families on the Lower East Side (New York). Not long after, she began to care for sick residents of the Lower East Side as a visiting nurse. Along with another nurse, Mary Brewster, she moved into a spartan room near her patients, in order to care for them better. In 1893 she also coined the term "public health nurse" to describe nurses whose work is integrated into the public community.
Wald extended this mission as founder of the Henry Street Settlement which later attracted the attention of Jacob Schiff, a prominent Jewish philanthropist who secretly provided her the means to help more effectively the "poor Russian Jews" whose care she provided. She was able to expand her work later, having 27 nurses on staff by 1906, and succeeded in attracting broader financial support from such gentiles as Elizabeth Milbank Anderson. By 1913 the staff had grown to 92 people. Ward worked in this area for 40 years.
Wald authored two books relating to this work, the first being The House on Henry Street, first published in 1911, followed by Windows on Henry Street in 1934. Both books went through numerous printings; modern reprints are available in both hard and paperback editions. Today, Lillian Wald is regarded as the founder of visiting nursing in the United States and Canada.
The Henry Street Settlement eventually expanded into the Visiting Nurse Service of New York City. As an advocate for nursing in public schools her ideas led to the New York Board of Health's organizing and running the first public nursing system in the world. She was the first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing. Wald established a nursing insurance partnership with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company that became a model for many other corporate projects, suggested a national health insurance plan, and helped found Columbia University’s School of Nursing.
Community outreach:
Not content to improve people's lives just through nursing, Wald also taught women how to cook and sew, provided recreational activities for families, and got involved in the labor movement. Out of her concern for women's working conditions, she helped to found the Women's Trade Union League in 1903 and later served as a member of the executive committee of the New York City League. In 1910, Wald and several colleagues went on a six-month tour of Hawaii, Japan, China, and Russia, a trip that increased her involvement in worldwide humanitarian issues.
In 1915, Wald founded the Henry Street Neighborhood Playhouse to serve as a cultural center. She also lobbied against child labor laws, to allow all children to attend school. She helped establish the United State Children’s Bureau, helped President Theodore Roosevelt create the Federal Children’s Bureau, and advocated for education of the mentally handicapped.
Advocacy:
Another of her concerns was the treatment of African-Americans. As a civil rights activist, Wald insisted that all Henry Street classes be racially integrated. She was one of the founders, in 1909, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The first major public conference to create the organization opened with a meeting at the Henry Street settlement.
An advocate for women's suffrage and for peace, Wald organized New York City campaigns for suffrage, marched to protest the United States’ entry into World War I, joined the Women's Peace Party and helped establish the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1915 she was elected president of the newly-formed American Union Against Militarism (AUAM) and after United States joined the war she remained involved with the AUAM's daughter organizations, the Foreign Policy Organization and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Legacy:
The New York Times named Wald as one of the 12 greatest living American women in 1922 and she later received the Lincoln Medallion for her work as an "Outstanding Citizen of New York.” In 1937 a radio broadcast celebrated Wald's 70th birthday; Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevelt read a letter from her son, President Franklin Roosevelt, in which he praised Wald for her “unselfish labor to promote the happiness and well being of others.”
Wald never married. She died in 1940 of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of seventy-three. Thousands mourned her passing at private and public meetings. Rabbi Stephen Wise of the Free Synagogue led a service at Henry Street's Neighborhood Playhouse. Dr. John L. Elliott led a private service at her Westport home. A few months later, 2,500 people filled Carnegie Hall to hear statements from the president, governor, mayor, and others testifying to Wald's ability to bring people together and effect change. She was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.
The Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D in Manhattan were named for her. The Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York continue the work she started more than a hundred years ago.
Bibliography:
The House on Henry Street (1911)
Windows on Henry Street (1934)
0 comments:
Post a Comment