The Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charitable Relief and Repressing Mendicancy took root in 1878 when a group of Philadelphians, many of them involved with the city's soup societies, met to discuss the problems of poverty and street begging. In 1879 the society was officially formed. Its major goals were to ameliorate the condition of the "worthy poor" and to coordinate the relief efforts of the many independent charities in the city. Shortly after its inception, the name was changed to the Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity (PSOC). It was one of the earliest charity organization societies in the United States and provided material relief for thousands of families and individuals. In 1925, following a decade of financial hardship, the name was changed again to the Family Society of Philadelphia. At this point the society began emphasizing counseling, rather than material relief. In 1950 it was renamed Family Service of Philadelphia (FSP). Throughout the latter part of the twentieth century the organization provided education, counseling, and other human services to low income Philadelphians. In 2000, after decades of striving to overcome financial obstacles and adapting its services to meet the shifting needs of the people it served, FSP closed.
From the description of Family Service of Philadelphia records, 1878-1999, bulk 1878-1916. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 61834401
