Endowments; Charities; Public welfare; New York (N.Y.); New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[between 1886 and 1919?]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 81, 83
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
The first of these municipal reforms, in New York City, developed as the 1857 creation of the Metropolitan Board of Police, and the New York Sanitary Association formed in 1859. The Sanitary Association also received the backing of four physicians who were leaders in health reform. These individuals were John H. Griscom, Elisha Harris, Joseph M. Smith, and Stephen Smith. Municipal reforms aimed to create separate agencies for city growth and maintenance, and these newly founded offices were held accountable to the state and not the city's government. Hence, the middle and upper classes were seeking ways to over-ride the immigrant vote. Even though the Sanitary Association sought to improve the lives and cleanliness of the upwardly elite, it worked closely with the New York Association for Improving Conditions of the Poor (AICP). These two groups continued to hold the backing of prominent physicians, but they were mostly run by laypersons. The AICP desired to improve the conditions of the city's slums, but its work toward elevating living conditions of the poor and working poor also benefited the upper classes. Neighborhood improvements helped decrease filth in the streets, and the removal or repair of ramshackle buildings helped decrease the risk of fires." [SOURCE: "The Sanitary and Moral Condition of New York City." Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources, edited by Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner, et al., Gale, 2006, pp. 206-209. Biography In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX2560000082/BIC?u=columbiau&sid=BIC&xid=2fadfd59. Accessed 5 Oct. 2018.]