Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940
Variant namesBIOGHIST REQUIRED Director of Henry Street Settlement in New York City. Miss Wald retired from active directorship in 1932.
From the guide to the Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1895-1936, (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library, )
Lillian D. Wald (1867-1940), a public health nurse and social worker in New York City on the Lower East Side, was a pioneer in American social work and public health. She founded the Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York in 1893 and was a crusader for liberal, social welfare and philanthropic causes including child welfare, civil liberties, immigration, unemployment and the peace movement during World War I.
From the description of Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1889-1957. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122408341
Director of Henry Street Settlement in New York City.
Miss Wald retired from active directorship in 1932.
From the description of Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1895-1936. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 495526640
Director of Henry Street Settlement in New York City.
Miss Wald retired from active directorship in 1932.
From the description of Papers, 1895-1936 [microform]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86130977
Lillian D. Wald was born on March 10, 1867, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German immigrants Max D. Wald, a dealer in optical wares and Minnie Schwarz. The Wald family moved to Rochester, New York where Wald received a private education at Miss Cruttenden's "English-French Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies and Little Girls." At the age of sixteen, she applied to Vassar College but was rejected because of her youth. Growing tired of social life in Rochester, Wald looked to nursing as a profession in which she might be afforded the opportunity for serious work as well as an outlet for her talents and ambition.
In 1889, Wald entered the New York Hospital School of Nursing. One year after her graduation, she enrolled at the Women's Medical College where she was asked to teach home nursing on New York City's Lower East Side. The lack of public heath care for the growing immigrant population of the neighborhood prompted Wald and fellow student, Mary Brewster, to abandon medical studies and work full-time in the service of New York's poorest citizens. Wald officially left medical school in 1893 and organized nursing classes for immigrant families on the Lower East Side at a tenement house on Jefferson Street. This home nursing program was the origin of the Henry Street Settlement. By 1895, Wald had successfully raised enough philanthropic interest in her project to establish a "Nurse's Settlement" in a house at 265 Henry Street. Early benefactors of her work included Mrs. Solomon Loeb and her son-in-law Jacob H. Schiff, as well as Rita Wallach Morganthau, and Irene and Alice Lewisohn among others. As financial support grew, so did the Henry Street Settlement. The 11 resident workers before 1900 expanded to 92 nurses by 1913. At the time of Wald's death there were nearly 300 nurses working from some twenty branches throughout the city.
Wald was also an innovator in the field of public health care. As the Henry Street Nurses' Service gained national attention, it became the model for similar programs in cities throughout the United States. Public health nursing emerged as a profession as a direct result of Wald's work and ideas. In 1902, she arranged to have a Henry Street nurse provide full-time care to children in public schools. This program led the New York City Board of Health to organize the first public school nursing system in the world. In 1909, she worked to convince the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to provide nursing service to its industrial policyholders. She was also instrumental in the creation of the department of nursing and health at Teachers College of Columbia University. The American Red Cross undertook rural public health nursing in 1912 at her instigation. Wald's appointment as the first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing in 1912 positioned her as a respected leader in American public health.
The Henry Street Settlement's mission gradually expanded beyond nursing and the health care needs of the immigrant population. Education, employment and recreation were addressed by Wald's various initiatives to reform community life. She was a pioneer in stressing the importance of play and the need for public playgrounds. A music school was added to the settlement's program along with classes in vocational guidance, home economics and prenatal care. The Neighborhood Playhouse on Grand Street was opened in 1915 with support from Alice and Irene Lewisohn.
As the age of reform progressed, Wald, along with Jane Addams and Florence Kelley shared a commitment to economic and social change. They worked to alleviate poverty, support children's welfare and expand the role of women in society. Kelley started the National Child Labor Committee in 1904 with the continuing support of Wald. This organization was responsible for legislation to ban child labor, and for the creation by president Theodore Roosevelt of the Federal Children's Bureau, under the direction of Julia Lathrop.
In 1914, Wald, Kelley, Addams, and others founded the American Union Against Militarism, the forerunner of the American Civil Liberties Union. As president of this organization, Wald met with president Woodrow Wilson and lobbied congress and advisors in the White House to allow neutral nations to end World War I through mediation. However, Wald was critical of the confrontational tactics used by some suffrage and peace activists fearing that they would interfere with her work with the Henry Street nurses. She served as chairman of the Nurses Emergency Council during the influenza epidemic of 1918 and lectured widely on the history of nursing, and the importance of health care. Her memoir House on Henry Street was published in 1915, and a second volume, Windows on Henry Street was released in 1934.
Wald's health declined throughout the 1920s, but she still managed to travel to Russia on invitation of the Commissioner of Health in 1924. That same year she served as vice-president to Bellevue-Yorkville Health Demonstration and as the American delegate to the Women's International Conference on Peace and Freedom in Zurich, Switzerland. She was the first woman recipient of the Rotary Club's gold medal in honor of her life-long service as sociologist and organizer. Wald maintained a close relationship with three-time British prime minister and architect of the British Labour Party, James Ramsay MacDonald and his family. In 1928, she publicly supported the presidential campaign of Alfred E. Smith. Her involvement in daily affairs at Henry Street gradually decreased by 1933, when she retired to her house in Westport, Connecticut. While in retirement she continued to contribute to magazines, including the Survey, Forum and Atlantic Monthly . After a long illness, Lillian Wald died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1940.
Sources:
"Lillian D. Wald." Dictionary of American Biography, Supplements 1-2: To 1940. American Council of Learned Societies, 1944-1958. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.
"Lillian D. Wald." Historic World Leaders . Gale Research, 1994. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006.
Smith, Helena Huntington, "Rampant but Respectable" The New Yorker, December 14, 1929.
Wald, Lillian D. The House on Henry Street . Henry Holt, 1915.
From the guide to the Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1889-1957, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
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creatorOf | Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. Letter, 1936, to Lewis Mumford. | University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library | |
referencedIn | Elmhirst, Dorothy Whitney Straight, 1887-1968. Dorothy Whitney Straight Elmhirst papers, 1887-1978, 1887-1926 (bulk). | Cornell University Library | |
referencedIn | Stokes, James Graham Phelps, 1872-1960. James Graham Phelps Stokes papers, 1779-1960, (bulk 1884-1960). | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
referencedIn | Helen Hall papers, 1898-1982 | University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives | |
referencedIn | Alger, George William, 1872-. The reminiscences of George W. Alger, 1951-1952 (inclusive), [microform]. | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1864-1982 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Papers of Martha May Eliot, 1898-1975 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | William Henry Matthews papers, 1907-1944. | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Papers of John Graham Brooks, 1805-1938 (bulk 1900-1938) | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Hudson, Manley Ottmer, 1886-1960. Papers, 1894-1960 | Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138 | |
referencedIn | Jacob Riis papers, 1871-1916, 1900-1910 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Abbott, Edith and Grace. Papers, 1870-1967 | Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, | |
referencedIn | Oswald Garrison Villard papers | Houghton Library | |
referencedIn | Hyman G. Enelow Papers., 1897-1933. | The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives | |
referencedIn | Papers of Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth) Dreier, 1797-1968 (inclusive), 1897-1968 (bulk) | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1889-1957. | New York Public Library System, NYPL | |
referencedIn | Hall, Helen, 1892-1982. Helen Hall Papers, 1898-1982. | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis | |
creatorOf | Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. Papers, 1895-1936 [microform]. | Twentieth Century Legal Treatises | |
referencedIn | Eastman, Max, 1883-1969. Letter, 1968. | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Baruch Charney Vladeck Papers, Bulk, 1920-1938, 1906-1958 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Angela Morgan Papers, 1893-1957 | Bentley Historical Library | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1912-1964. | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Arthur Gleason Papers, 1863-1931, (bulk 1900-1923) | Library of Congress. Manuscript Division | |
creatorOf | Kelley, Nicholas, 1885-1965. Nicholas Kelley papers, 1823-1967, bulk (1862-1967). | New York Public Library System, NYPL | |
referencedIn | Mabel Vernon Papers, 1933-1947 | Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center | |
referencedIn | Century Company records | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Rose Pastor Stokes papers, 1900-1993 | Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives | |
referencedIn | Fannia M. Cohn papers, 1914-1962 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Historical files, [ca. 1900-1975]. | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Papers. 1866 - 1960. Elinor Morgenthau's Papers | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum | |
referencedIn | Hall, Helen, 1892-1982. Papers, 1898-1982. | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis | |
referencedIn | William Henry Matthews papers, 1907-1944 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Duffus, R. L. (Robert Luther), 1888-1972. R. L. Duffus papers, 1903-1971. | Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives | |
creatorOf | Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1895-1936 | Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
referencedIn | Baker, Adelaide Nichols. Papers, 1935-1971 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Bureau of Vocational Information (New York, N.Y.). Records, 1908-1932 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | New York (State). Commission of Immigration. Typescript of report to the governor, 1909. | New York State Archives | |
referencedIn | American Association for Labor Legislation. Series 1, Subseries 2, part c. Correspondence (N-W), 1910-1915. [microform] | Cornell University Library | |
referencedIn | Van Kleeck, Mary, 1883-1972. Papers, 1883-1972 | Smith College, Neilson Library | |
referencedIn | Papers of Mary Ware Dennett | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Warburg, Felix M. (Felix Moritz), 1871-1937. Papers, 1895-1937. | The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives | |
referencedIn | Laidlaw, Harriet Burton, 1873-1949. Papers, 1851-1958 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Benjamin Schlesinger, President. Records, 1914-1923. | Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives | |
creatorOf | Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1895-1936. | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
referencedIn | Community Service Society. Archives, 1842-1995. | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1914-1957. | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Baruch Charney Vladeck Papers, Bulk, 1920-1938, 1906-1958 | Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives | |
referencedIn | Mezes, Sidney Edward, 1863-1931. Sidney Edward Mezes papers, 1918-1931 (inclusive), 1918-1919 (bulk). | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Walling, Anna Strunsky, 1879-1964. Anna Strunsky Walling papers, 1880-1968 (inclusive). | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Tilton, Elizabeth, 1869-1950. Papers, 1914-1949 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Brubaker, Howard, b. 1882. Papers, 1914-1957 (inclusive). 1914-1950 (bulk). | Churchill County Museum | |
referencedIn | Charles-Edward Amory Winslow papers, 1874-1977, 1915-1945 | Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives | |
referencedIn | Barrows family papers, 1861-1931. | Houghton Library | |
referencedIn | Gotthard Deutsch Papers, 1859-1922, 1900-1920 | The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives | |
referencedIn | Hamilton-Madison House Records, 1898-1965 | University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives | |
referencedIn | Letters sent to Walter Hines Page from various correspondents, English period, 1876-1937. | Houghton Library | |
referencedIn | Garrison family papers, 1801-1948 (inclusive), 1840-1907 (bulk). | Houghton Library | |
referencedIn | Bureau of Vocational Information. Records, 1908-1932 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Stokes, Rose Pastor, 1879-1933. Rose Pastor Stokes papers, 1900-1993 (inclusive). | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Adler, Felix, 1851-1933. Felix Adler papers, 1830-1933. | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
referencedIn | Margaret Grace Bondfield papers, 1854-1951, 1898-1951 (bulk). | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Sidney Edward Mezes papers, 1918-1931, 1918-1919 | Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives | |
referencedIn | New York Times Company records. Arthur Hays Sulzberger papers, 1823-1999 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Community Service Society Archives, 1842-1995. | The Rare Book and Manuscript Library, | |
referencedIn | Laidlaw, H. B. (Harriet Burton), b. 1874. Papers: Series I-IV, 1851-1958 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Papers of Elizabeth Glendower Evans, 1859-1944 (inclusive), 1882-1944 (bulk) | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Simkhovitch, Mary K. (Mary Kingsbury), 1867-1951. Papers, 1852-1960 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | American Union Against Militarism. Collected records, 1915-1922 [microform]. | Swarthmore College, Peace Collection, SCPC | |
referencedIn | William Kent family papers, 1768–1961 | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Simkhovitch, Mary K. (Mary Kingsbury), 1867-1951. Papers, 1852-1960 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | American Union Against Militarism. Collected records, 1915-1922. | Swarthmore College, Peace Collection, SCPC | |
referencedIn | Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia during the 62nd Congress | Center for Legislative Archives | |
referencedIn | Jewish women's archive. Women of valor : booklet and posters, 1998. | Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives | |
creatorOf | Lillian D. Wald Papers, 1889-1957 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Perkins, Frances, 1880-1965. Papers, ca.1895-1965. | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
referencedIn | Hall, Helen, 1892-1982. Helen Hall, Settlement records, [ca. 1840]-1961. | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1868-1948. | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Henry Street Settlement records, 1892-2005 | University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives | |
referencedIn | George Moses Price files and scrapbook, 1883-1952 [bulk 1912-1942]. | Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives | |
referencedIn | Anna Strunsky Walling papers, 1880-1968 | Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives | |
referencedIn | Rand School of Social Science, Dept. of Labor Research records, 1916-1923 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Papers of John Graham Brooks, 1805-1938 (bulk 1900-1938) | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
creatorOf | Florence Kelley papers, 1836-1932, 1881-1932 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Stokes, Rose Pastor, 1879-1933. Rose Pastor Stokes papers, 1900-1993 (inclusive). | Yale University Library | |
creatorOf | Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. Correspondence to Charles Van Wyck Brooks, 1933-1935. | University of Pennsylvania Library | |
referencedIn | Walling, Anna Strunsky, 1879-1964. Anna Strunsky Walling papers, 1880-1968 (inclusive). | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Gardner, Mary Sewall, 1871-1961. Papers, 1902-1954 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Totenberg, Amy, 1950-. Women reformers from the settlement movement, 1889-1925. | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Office of the Messrs Rockefeller. General files. 1890-1961. | Rockefeller Archive Center | |
referencedIn | Harry Weinberger papers, 1915-1944 | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Abbott, Edith, 1876-1957. Edith and Grace Abbott papers, 1870-1967 (inclusive). | University of Chicago Library | |
referencedIn | International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. President's Office. ILGWU. Benjamin Schlesinger papers, 1914-1923. | Cornell University Library | |
referencedIn | Papers of Elizabeth Glendower Evans, 1859-1944 (inclusive), 1882-1944 (bulk) | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Van Kleeck, Mary, 1883-1972. Papers, 1883-1972 | Smith College, Neilson Library | |
referencedIn | American Association for Labor Legislation. Records on Microfilm, 1905-1910 | Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives | |
creatorOf | Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. Correspondence to Van Wyck Brooks, 1920-1937. | University of Pennsylvania Library | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1864-1982 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Hamilton-Madison House (New York, N.Y.). Hamilton-Madison House records, 1898-1965. | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1902-1954 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | William Kent family papers, 1768-1961 | Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives | |
referencedIn | Papers of Clara Mortensen Beyer | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Scrapbooks, [ca. 1920-1975], [ca. 1920-1949] (bulk). | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Winslow, C.-E. A. (Charles-Edward Amory), 1877-1957. Charles-Edward Amory Winslow papers, 1874-1977 (inclusive), 1915-1945 (bulk). | Yale University Library | |
creatorOf | Thacher, Thomas D. (Thomas Day), 1881-1950. Thomas Day Thacher Papers, 1917-1950. | Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries | |
creatorOf | Rand School of Social Science, Dept. of Labor Research records, 1916-1923. | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Papers of Mary E. (Mary Elisabeth) Dreier, 1797-1968 (inclusive), 1897-1968 (bulk) | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Florence Kelley papers, 1836-1932, 1881-1932 | New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division | |
referencedIn | Dorothy Whitney Straight Elmhirst papers, 1887-1978, 1887-1926 (bulk) | Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. | |
referencedIn | Price, George Moses, 1864-1942. George Moses Price files and scrapbook, 1883-1952, bulk 1912-1942. | Cornell University Library | |
referencedIn | Papers, 1854-1951, 1898-1951 (bulk). | New York State Historical Documents Inventory | |
referencedIn | Felix Adler papers, 1830-1933. | Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library | |
creatorOf | Henry Street Settlement (New York, N.Y.). Henry Street Settlement records, 1892-1982. | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis | |
referencedIn | Kent, William, 1864-1928. William Kent family papers, 1768-1961. | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | Dennett, Mary Ware, 1872-1947. Papers: Series V, 1913-1945 (inclusive). | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Coss, Clare. Lillian Wald: at home on Henry Street: a one character play: typescript, 1986. | New York Public Library System, NYPL | |
referencedIn | Tilton, Elizabeth, 1869-1950. Papers, 1914-1949 | Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America | |
referencedIn | Max James Kohler Papers, 1765-1963 (bulk 1888-1935) | American Jewish Historical Society |
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