USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The challenge of a heritage : one hundred years of service to children, 1855-1955 > Part 3
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The office was again moved from No. 24 to No. 41 Mt. Vernon Street along with the Children's Aid Society's, and the two Agencies entered into a second joint project - a Joint Clothing Bureau.
The Church Home Society was a Charter Member of the Child Welfare League of America, a national organization, having in 1927 a membership of 136 Children's Agencies selected throughout the United States and Canada for their approved standards of service.
Dr. C. C. Carstens, formerly General Secretary of the Massa- chusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was the first Executive Director of the League.
From the beginning, almost, the League had two functions - to advise on questions of policy and standards, strengthening the Societies' own judgment; and to act as intermediary between Agencies needing inter-agency service.
Today membership in the Child Welfare League of America has become a "hall mark " of an Agency's standing in the community.
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Bishop Thos. E. Davies, D.D., of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, in a letter to The Church Home Society enclosed the following Resolution passed in Convention on May 18, 1927 -
" That the Convention of the Diocese of Western Massa- chusetts hereby expresses the confidence in and appreciation of the splendid service by The Church Home Society; and that since the Diocese feels unable to contribute toward the work of The Church Home Society, that the Society be released from all responsibility for the Diocese of Western Massa- chusetts, and that the Diocese of Western Massachusetts re- linquish financial interest in The Church Home Society, or any representation on the governing body."
This decision of Western Massachusetts was accepted by the Society, which for years had felt unable to do satisfactory case work in an area so far from its eastern headquarters.
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The Society then withdrew from the territory of Western Massachusetts and limited its services to the boundaries of the Diocese of Massachusetts - from the Worcester County line on
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the west to the tip of Cape Cod on the east; and from the New Hampshire line on the north to the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on the south.
The extensive publicity, educational and money raising cam- paigns were carried on for three years - 1927-1930. They em- braced the organizing and staging of elaborate social benefits, contests and entertainments; full scale newspaper publicity, and a Diocesan-wide speaker's program under the Chairmanship of Mr. Charles R. Nutter, a member of the Board. Through these projects the Society and its work became better known than cver before in its history.
A mailing list for publicity purposes of over 4000 names was built up.
Financial contributions were doubled and the total income of the Society was substantially increased.
A group of parish volunteers called Associates, representative of over one hundred parishes, was organized.
One of the by-products of the increased publicity was the Seal or " trademark " of the Society which was chosen by a Committee of Judges from over seventy-five suggestions made by people from parishes throughout the Diocese. The idea which was selected for the Seal was born in the active mind of Miss Florence A. Chase, the Head of the Boston Folk Industries of Fayette Street, Boston, and a warm and interested friend of the Society's.
Miss Chase's idea was rounded into shape by Miss Genevieve M. Thomas, a Boston sculptor. This beautiful Seal is today widely known and recognized throughout the whole country as the Emblem of The Church Home Society, depicting now, as when it was created, the wide range of the Society's work with infants, children and young people. The fruit of the tree sym- bolizes the fruit of the character of life, and the radiance of the Cross permeates the whole picturization of the Society's endeavor to provide home life, religious education, vocational training, health, recreation, and, thereby, character.
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The opening of The Penny Wise Thrift Shop was a second by-product of the increased publicity campaign. Organized by some of the Board Members of the three organizations which worked with men, women and children in the Diocese of Massa- chusetts - The Episcopal City Mission, The House of Mercy and The Church Home Society, for the purpose of raising money through the sale of used articles of all kinds, The Penny Wise Thrift Shop was, and continues to be, a remarkable cooperative endeavor, and a stimulating project for Associates in their parishes.
A third by-product was the Contest for a new name for the Society - newspaper publicity for which flooded the Judges with ideas and suggestions. However, when the shouting and the tumult ceased, it was decided that no suggestion more clearly or succinctly described the Society's past service and its plan for future service, than the now well-known title The Church Home Society for the Care of Children of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
In the year 1929 a disagreement again occurred between the Society and the Diocese regarding the wisdom and timeliness of a proposed Endowment Campaign, seemingly necessary because of lack of full Diocesan support. Again the Diocesan Council questioned the plan, the rejection of which cost the Society a considerable turnover in Board and Staff members, including the resignation of the Executive Director, the majority of members, however, choosing to pursue the Church-Related Way - to remain a Diocesan Institution, receiving partial financial support.
The following excerpts were taken from a Resolution passed in the February 1930 meeting of the Board of Directors -
Resolved, That it is with deep regret that this Board accepts the resignation of Miss Katharine P. Hewins. She has been chief executive of this Society since May, 1913, and during this time has rendered distinguished service not only to this Society, but to the whole Diocese. Because of her vision, judgment and
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untiring efforts to make effective in this small Church enterprise the best standards in child care, this Society has become one of the best child-caring agencies in the country.
Resolved, That we deem it a privilege to have had Miss Hewins' leadership these many years, and that all who have worked closely with her will miss the stimulus of her courageous and uncom- promising devotion to the best in social work and in life.
As 1930 ushered in the end of three-quarters of a century of service The Church Home Society found itself bereft of a Presi- dent and an Executive Director; relationships with the Diocesan Council, the Department of Social Service, which was under- going reorganization, and the Diocese were strained; cooperation with the clergy of the Diocese was at a low ebb. These were the early years of the great depression and economically they were taking their toll in the Diocese of Massachusetts and throughout the whole country.
Meantime The Church Home Society with a well-organized, professionally disciplined staff moved on under the direction of Miss M. Ruth Haseltine, Acting Executive Director. The Board, fired with consecration and zeal, with the First Vice-President, Mrs. Morton P. Prince, serving in the capacity of President, set the course as follows:
" There are four principal objectives to be aimed at at the present time by the Board. ist. to engage a new Executive Director; 2nd. to find a President; 3rd. to establish, improve and strengthen the relationships between The Church Home Society and the Diocese; 4th. to watch our expenditures and to increase our contributions.'
The interregnum lasted six months. In September 1930 Ralph Sheldon Barrow, B.S. University of Alabama, Harvard School of Social Ethics and Harvard Law School, assumed the office of Executive Director. Mr. Barrow's previous experiences lay in the Juvenile Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, where he served as Chief Probation Officer; in the Alabama Children's Aid Society,
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as its Executive; in the Connecticut Children's Aid Society as its Executive Secretary. An active layman in the Diocese of Con- necticut, Mr. Barrow served on many Church and Community planning boards, including Community Chests and Councils. He served in the First World War as an Ensign in the U. S. Navy.
In November of 1930, Lincoln Baylies, a member of Emmanuel Church, Boston, became President of the Society, bringing to it the sound traditions of another fine old Boston family and the experience of a successful business executive. So began a spirited relationship between President and Executive Director which lasted through two decades.
By the end of 1930 the roster of the Board of Directors, and of the Staff, was completed - 26 Board Members, 23 Staff Mem- bers; Intake Policies were liberalizcd; cooperative relationships with the Department of Social Service were intensified; inter- dependency between clergy, parishioners, and the Society was fostered; publicity and interpretation were given new direction and a broadened base for financial support was launched. Fear- lessly and eagerly, moved by a high purpose, the Board and Staff faced the future.
On the death of Bishop Slattery in 1930 Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill, D.D., became Honorary President of the Society. Shortly thereafter he met with the Board Members, charging them to rise to their high privilege of serving God's less fortunate children under the standard of the Church; to go out into the Diocese with the " good news." He commended the Board for its plan for an intensive financial campaign to secure $16,000 from new con- tributors and so broaden the base of giving. ($23,000 in new money and renewals was the result of this effort.) He proclaimed Church Home Society Sunday throughout the Diocese, when special prayers were offered and printed material on the Society's work distributed. The beautiful prayer which follows was written by Bishop Sherrill and sent by him to the clergy of the Diocese - " O Lord, Jesus Christ, who said, 'Suffer the little children to
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come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven,' we pray thee for The Church Home Society, that thy spirit may rest upon officers and workers. Especially we pray for the children that their needs may be met with wisdom and love. Grant that all of us may realize that in this service we are serving thee, who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, art One God, world without end. Amen."
The Publicity Program having been extensive in character in the past now became intensive. Public benefits, etc., were given up and a form of educational publicity and interpretation was substituted for them under the direction of Mrs. Ralph Barrow, the wife of the Executive Director. Mrs. Barrow, with pro- fessional experience in Child Welfare and its interpretation, planned and executed the vehicle "The C. H. S. Courier," through which the written interpretation was carried. As a volun- teer member of the Staff, and for many years as a Board member, Mrs. Barrow acted as the Courier's editor.
The Speaker's Bureau was enlarged; engagements with parishes as a whole and with parish organizations eager for facts concern- ing The C. H. S. were filled; active participation in the Men's and Women's Divisions of the Church Service League and the Diocesan Department of Social Service was established.
As people living in coastal areas buttress their shore lines in the lull between outgoing and incoming high tides, so The Church Home Society, mid-way in the Depression, undertook to strengthen its services to children.
The Case Committee under the able leadership of Mrs. Edith M. H. Baylor, a member of the Board and Supervisor of Place- ment in the Boston Children's Aid Association, in addition to its work with less privileged children, dealt more and more with families who were going through deep suffering and were finding it difficult to ask and accept assistance from others.
Intensive work was done by a hard-pressed staff in the Depart- ment of Advice and Assistance with children in their own homes,
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to relieve the acuteness of the strain and stress, and to stem the tide beating against family life and threatening family breakdown.
Clergymen from all over the Diocese used The Church Home Society as a " clearing house " for problems within their parishes concerning children and young people, and, out of this coopera- tion, there came a deepened understanding of human suffering, human needs, and the ways in which they could be met, resolved, and, when possible, prevented.
At this time Dr. Alberta S. B. Guibord resigned as Director of the Psychiatric Department, but the Department continued to function two years longer under the direction of Dr. Rose C. Munro, pediatrician and psychiatrist. It was discontinued after 1932. Its trail blazing was finished. Community Clinics - the Judge Baker Guidance Center; the Habit Clinic; the New Eng- land Home for Little Wanderers; the Massachusetts General Hospital, offered their services to The Church Home Society and a new era of agency interdependence and specialization was begun.
1932 was indeed the year of retrenchment for The Church Home and the majority of Boston's Social Agencies, which along with Social Agencies throughout the nation were groping in the darkness of the Depression.
All of Boston's Agencies suffered in common from a lack of funds (The Church Home Society faced a peak deficit as foster home care grew heavier.) The priority of need became so controversial that the Boston Council of Social Agencies, now qualifying for authoritative leadership under the direction of Roy M. Cushman, proposed a " Joint Financial Drive " - the pro- posal supported by the mounting popularity and success of the Community Chest idea.
The Church Home Society, with a firm place in the Council as a member of the Children's Group, caring for that segment of the Community's children who were Episcopalians; functioning under accepted high community standards; possessing an im-
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pressive mailing list of contributors and a well-publicized name, was entitled to admission in the " Joint Drive " along with other non-denominational and Church-related Agencies. It was one of over one hundred Agencies to approve the Campaign plan which was launched in 1933 as the " Boston Emergency Relief Cam- paign." The Church Home Society was allotted a "Quota " of $23,000, comparable to the amount of its 1931 subscriptions.
The apparent success of the Campaign, reassuring those who had feared the loss of the Agency's identity and who doubted the wisdom of joint giving, plus the wholehearted support of many Episcopalians in the Diocese, encouraged The Church Home Society to participate in the Boston Emergency Relief Campaign of 1934.
In these years of adversity The Church Home Society grew strong. The relationships with the Diocese in parishes and parish organizations were more closely knit - a common loyalty against a common misfortune.
The Church's Call fell short of its goal, but The Church Home Society's allotment was not cut; local needs were unprece- dented and parishes had to economize, yet gifts to The C. H. S. from parish groups increased. In spite of these heartening facts, other sources of income decreased - income from invested funds; individual contributions; reimbursements from parents - and the Society's Budget was cut by $10,000. Rent, salaries, board were cut. The number of children at board was reduced, while the children helped and supervised in their own homes increased. The Children's Aid Association and The Church Home Society entered into joint saving plans - purchasing larger quantities of clothing and office supplies at wholesale, and sharing travelling expenses.
Seeking a way for the future of Boston's philanthropic agencies the two Emergency Relief Campaigns were evaluated by a com- mittee headed by Mr. J. W. Farley, General Chairman of the 1934 Campaign. Six possible suggestions were made -
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1. Each charity to obtain its own funds without any common plan.
2. Each charity to obtain, separately, what funds it can and then have a joint campaign, if necessary to make up the deficits.
3. A joint campaign on substantially the same basis as this year (1934).
4. A joint campaign, but excluding certain charities or certain classes of charities.
5. A joint campaign on the same general plan as this year (1934), but prior thereto making all possible consolidations and economies, and with some arrangement so that those living in the Metropolitan area can be more successfully approached.
6. A permanent and continuous arrangement for joint campaigns, with appropriate arrangements to determine participants, · budgets, quotas, etc.
A unanimous vote by the Society's Board placed the Society firmly against the suggestion that " each charity obtain its own funds without any common plan " and affirmatively for the way which was " best for Boston's Social Work as a whole." Specifi- cally the Board voted to approve Point 5 with a tendency toward Point 6, and so went the Community tide, turning to the Com- munity Fund plan under Council of Social Agencies' auspices as the most practicable method of raising funds and the fairest method for their allotment.
The 1935 Campaign was preceded by a study of Boston's Social and Health Agencies, made by competent National Agen- cies - the Child Welfare League of America for the Children's Agencies - resulting in proposals for " economies and consolida- tions." The recommendation to The Church Home Society was that the Agency continue endeavoring to make its special con- tribution to children's work in Boston. There was the additional suggestion that " the two Episcopal Agencies, the House of Mercy and The Church Home Society, consider further coordination and possible amalgamation."
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Following this the two Agencies, under the aegis of the Dioce- san Department of Social Service, participated in a joint study of their work with unmarried mothers and their babies, conducted by Miss L. Josephine Webster, Executive of the Vermont Chil- dren's Aid Society. The findings affirmed the wisdom of " further coordination." For two years (1936-1937) Joint Case Meetings were held; intake of unmarried mothers was coalesced; pre-natal and post-natal care in foster homes, versus institutional care, was increased. During this two-year period a small number of Episcopal girls seeking care in the House of Mercy seemed to indicate a trend away from the need of this institution. In 1944 the House of Mercy was closed and the casework for Episcopal girls was taken over by The Church Home Society, the House of Mercy continuing to give counsel and financial support.
The Church Home Society was asked by the Department of Social Service and the Women's Division of the Church Service League to become the Central Clearing House for the Diocese, to serve as the Agency to which any Social Service Organization within the Diocese, any clergyman, or any man, woman or child might turn for information and direction concerning the Social Casework problems which confronted them.
The Department then asked The Church Home Society's Publicity Department to prepare and have printed a booklet to be called " Social Service Resources of the Protestant Episcopal Church within the Diocese of Massachusetts."
There were at this time in the Diocese some thirty Church- related Social Service Agencies and Institu- tions. Each one of these was visited; its services tabulated and local Agencies were asked to become Clearing Houses. A Seal was made to illustrate these various Diocesan services. It ACTION is used today in 1955 as the emblem under CH IN SOCIAL which all printed matter from the Diocesan Department of Social Service is issued - a description of
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which may be of interest to those who are not aware of its significance -
" Bound up in the bundle of life - sailors, doctors, nurses, soldiers, criminals, negroes, the sick, the blind, young mothers and their babies, men of the country, men of industry, old men and old women and little children - strangely alike these latter, ' for the world seems much the same to those who leave it behind as to those who have but taken the first step on its circular stairway.'
" Caught up in the broken circles of life - these people, yet over and beyond the complexities, the inequalities, the shadows of life, there stands the Cross of Christ, its eager arms stretched out to free men from their chains, to gather and bind the broken circles and make them whole."
The booklet was sent to every clergyman in the Diocese, Bishop Sherrill in his foreword asking them to " keep this book- let at hand for constant reference. All of these agencies are here to be used wisely and intelligently. A clergyman is a priest and a prophet, but in addition he is a social service worker in the name of his Master."
A few years later The Church Home Society prepared other pamphlets for the Department - "A Plan for a Parish Social Service Committee," an interpretation of Social Service to a Parish, illustrating the ways in which Parish Social Service needs could be met and the ministry of laymen strengthened, and " What of Our Children in Wartime? "
The Rev. Howard P. Kellett, Executive Secretary of the De- partment of Social Service, in sending the former to the Clergy quoted from Dr. Norman B. Nash's pamphlet, "The Parish As A Social Instrument "- " If God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved, then the Church, the body of his Son, must con- cern herself both with making men fit for society and with making society fit for men."
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The Episcopal Churches of Lawrence, Massachusetts, feeling the backwash of the Depression in unemployment, sickness, torn and broken family life, turned to the Department of Social Service for counsel and help, and the Department asked The Church Home Society for a trained social worker who would collaborate with the rectors of the Lawrence Churches and would work among their parish families. The Society added Miss Millicent Becker to its staff and assigned her to the Lawrence project, to work under the Society's supervision, the Department meeting her salary.
In June of 1938 Miss Becker and Miss Haseltine, the Society's casework supervisor, were killed in an automobile accident on their return from a Child Welfare Conference in New York.
The four short months of Miss Becker's splendid services to Lawrence's burdened and discouraged Episcopal families stood as a testimony of her skill and her humility. She first became acquainted with Community Social Service agencies. She then began visiting the distressed families of the parishes, listening to their problems, to the circumstances out of which they had grown; to the gallant fights that some of them had fought. Sometimes she met defeat; more often she surprised into flame old dreams, old ambitions, old beliefs in self-help. She counselled with people. She directed them or led them to the organized community agencies which were equipped to give them the services they needed, such as temporary relief; medical care; vocational guid- ance; mental strengthening; reëmployment in old, or in wholly new fields.
During the long, hard Winter and Spring, the Churches, through their eager, cooperative clergymen, and their laymen, who had been inspired by the clergymen and Miss Becker to give volunteer service, furnished the needy families with that spiritual power so essential to the rehabilitation of their lives.
More and more as understanding grew within the Churches of their real relation to Social Work, moneys from Discretionary
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Funds were directed to the community agencies. Through them permanent plans, for family after family, gradually replaced the temporary and often footless relief which previously had been given.
As an appreciation of Miss Haseltine's eleven years of service with the Society, there was written into the Minutes - " She was sanely conservative, deeply grounded in the sanctities of religion, believing in the fundamental American traditions and institu- tions, with an understanding of and respect for the new and a rare ability to blend it into the old."
At the end of this same year Mr. Harold Amory, who had suc- ceeded Mr. Baylies as President, was killed when thrown from his horse. To the Board and Staff and to the children with whom he came in contact at various Children's Services, Mr. Amory was a warm friend and an unselfish and inspiring leader.
Mr. Baylies again was made President of the Society.
Mindful of the Future
Facing the fact that The Church Home Society, along with other Private or Voluntary Agencies, was receiving but a portion of its financial support from the Greater Boston Community Fund, the Board renewed its efforts to increase the Endowment Fund, using the Courier and The Church Militant (through advertisement) as media.
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