(b) REFORMATIVE WORK

The border line between preventive and reformative work is in theory definite and clear; in practice, as illustrated by institutions, it is rather hazy. These institutions and homes endeavor to help women who have actually yielded to temptation or to force of circumstances.

They are susceptible of division along several lines. Some are small, under religious or private control, and for the most part reach the less demoralized class. There are also larger establishments, which receive both girls committed by the court and girls who enter voluntarily. Among the former may be mentioned the Margaret Strachan Home, the Midnight Mission and St. Michael’s Home, and the New Shelter for Young Women, quite recently opened.

The Margaret Strachan Home cares for 24 girls temporarily. They come voluntarily, through doctors and mission friends, remain from one to six months, receive certain training under religious influences, and are sent out to maternity hospitals or to friends. There were 80 girls in the home in 1911, most of them under twenty years of age. For twenty-nine years this home has been conducted under the management of an association of religious women. The Wayside Home in Brooklyn provides a home for friendless girls and serves as a reformatory for Protestant young girls in Kings County. It emphasizes home care and practical training.

The St. Michael’s Home is at Mamaroneck. It is operated under the Protestant Episcopal Church by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist. It cares for 60 girls at a time, most of them for the space of two years. Instruction in school branches and in housework and home-making is given. Girls come through parents and guardians, a few by commitment. Many of them are discovered by the missionary visitor. They go out to proper places equipped for usefulness.

Of the larger institutions there are four,—the House of the Good Shepherd, the House of Mercy, the New York Magdalen Benevolent Society and the Ozanam Home for Friendless Women. All of these receive wayward women of all kinds, and the House of the Good Shepherd and the House of Mercy receive little girls from dangerous surroundings. While they do not seek for committed cases, such are accepted. The Magdalen Society is the oldest home of this kind, having been founded in 1833.

The Ozanam Home in Brooklyn under the leadership of Roman Catholic women offers shelter and help to those who wish to reform. The work is of a temporary nature in that inmates do not as a rule remain in the home over three weeks. In the year 1912, six hundred and sixty-seven were cared for at public charges and 198 at private charges.

The House of the Good Shepherd can care for 500 women and girls, making it the largest institution of the kind. No account is taken of race, color, or creed, although probably the majority of its wards are Catholic. The girls are divided into classes according to their condition and purpose of entering the institution. Some look forward to giving their lives to religious service; others are to be trained for useful work and to be discharged when it is best. Volunteers leave at any time. The training covers usual school work, laundry, cooking, embroidery and lace making. Physical and recreational needs are cared for.

The House of Mercy does a similar work under the guidance of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The capacity of this house is 110. At the close of 1910 there were 107 inmates. These come, some of free will, others by commitment. The department for women is entirely separate from that for young girls, which, conducted as the work of St. Agnes Guild, is referred to above. The women are given practical training in domestic service and do the work of the large laundry which is a source of income. Attention is given to recreation, religious training and to the life after leaving the institution.

The Magdalen Benevolent Society Home cares for about 100 women, the larger part of whom are committed by magistrates. Erring women under 30 years of age also come voluntarily into the home for six months or more. Suitable school and practical training is given, physical and recreational wants are met, moral influences are exerted, and women go out to situations approved by the management. Unmarried mothers with babies are received and trained. This home is non-sectarian in its management and in its work.

All institutions dealing with erring women have to receive in larger or smaller numbers unmarried girls expecting to become mothers. There are, however, certain homes specially devoted to this class of women. The Heartsease Work for Friendless Women in this city, the St. Faith’s Home at Tarrytown, and Lakeview House at Arrochar, Staten Island, are perhaps the best examples. To these the girls come voluntarily or are directed by relatives, friends and charitable workers. St. Faith’s Home, though smallest in capacity and in total numbers cared for during the year, is representative in respect to the policy pursued. From 15 to 17 can be accommodated, and 39 girls were cared for in 1912, twenty-four of whom were received during that year. Mothers with their children are kept for two years in most cases. They are taught all kinds of home work and especially nursery work. Instruction in the fundamental branches of school work is given as well as lessons in hygiene, in dress, and in the expenditure of and accounting for money. Safe places are provided for all leaving the home. The home is managed by a board of women and an advisory board of men. It is largely supported by Episcopalians and the work is done by members of that church.

Lakeview Home, operated under the direction of the Council of Jewish Women, does a similar work for Hebrew girls. It emphasizes industrial training and personal work. It cares for 25 women and girls and 24 infants at a time. The total number cared for in 1912 was 60 girls and 45 infants.

The Heartsease Work is undenominational, though definitely religious. In addition to the care of women with babies, it provides a temporary home for erring women and endeavors to fit women for work. It cared for 204 cases in the year 1911-12. Forty were mothers with infants, 61 were girls becoming mothers, 14 girls were convalescing, and 20 girls were seeking employment. There were 9 infants without mothers. The home provides classes for instruction, social entertainments, and religious services.

Definite work to reform this class of women done by three religious organizations may be mentioned here,—that of the Chinatown Settlement, the Rescue Mission in Doyers Street, and of the Salvation Army. These organizations are in a position to touch those more deeply involved in vice; but the majority of the girls they reach are not prostitutes.

The Chinatown Settlement offers a home and friendly relations to girls drawn into Chinatown. It affords entertainments, religious teaching, and practical training. It brings to the home an average of 75 different girls per month. Two thousand calls on girls were made in 1912. It has a small country place for summer use.

The Rescue Society reaches girls through mission services, clubs, and classes. Two thousand, seven hundred and forty-eight women were touched by the services in 1911.

The Salvation Army maintains rescue and industrial homes in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as it does in all the chief cities of the land. The home in Manhattan cares for 50 women and is always full. Some midnight rescue work is done; but the girls actually taken from the streets are few. This work, which formerly depended largely upon religious results in meetings, now accomplishes more by personal influence of workers. The girls are of all nationalities, their average age, 25. So far as possible, the different classes are separated in the home. Of 115 inmates in one year 60 were betrayal cases, 19 were cases of prostitution, and 27 girls were under serious temptation. Capable girls are trained and sent out to service. The leaders state that perhaps 80 percent are reformed. The Army also maintains a home at Tappan on the Hudson for young girls about to become mothers. This work was formerly the Door of Hope and is still in charge of Mrs. Whittemore. The Army also does a preventive work for young girls on its farm in Spring Valley.

The two homes that probably touch the problem of the prostitute and commercialized traffic in women more closely than any others are Waverly House and the Florence Crittenton Home. The leaders in these homes are in close relation to the magistrate’s courts and both take care of witnesses in white slave cases pending in the Federal Court.

Waverly House is under the management of the New York Probation Association. It accommodates 18 girls, who come through the courts, as above mentioned, and through philanthropic and religious organizations. Two hundred and nine were cared for in the house in 1912. They remained from one day to three months, for Waverly House is a temporary home and not a reformatory. Most of the girls are young, the largest group between sixteen and eighteen. With the exception of the court witnesses, girls are placed in such permanent institutions or positions as will meet their needs. Personal attention and careful study are most prominent in this house. Classes in the useful arts, English, and music are provided. One night each week is “play night,” and entertainments of all kinds are provided. The higher spiritual truths are brought to the girls through a Sunshine Circle. Through the Employment Bureau the girls of the house, as well as many who have been arrested, those in moral danger, and many difficult and incorrigible girls, find situations.

The Florence Crittenton Mission in this city is one of many homes of the same name situated in the larger cities of this country. It formerly engaged in a rescue mission work for both men and women. Its work is now limited to the care of erring women. The home contains 16 rooms, each occupied by two or more persons. The girls are probationers, girls released on suspended sentences, witnesses in white slave cases, and women discharged by the courts; a few come from cafés and from the streets. During an entire year, 501 girls passed through the home, some staying but a few hours, others remaining for the year. They range in age from fourteen to twenty-five years. A night school is maintained, as well as classes in physical culture and the useful arts. A Helping Hand Class makes scrap books and small articles for sick children. The pleasure side of life is met by entertainments, and religious services are regularly held. The disposition of the 501 girls above mentioned was as follows:

The work is financed and managed by the National Florence Crittenton Mission.

Though not placed strictly under the reformative heading, certain fundamental phases of the work of the Probation Association and the Church Mission of Help may here be presented. As stated above, the sphere of these societies is largely that of clearing houses. They study carefully the girls who come to them and make of them the disposition best suited to their needs. The time of study allows opportunities for personal helpfulness and it is well improved.

The Church Mission of Help began its work by a prolonged study of 229 cases of wayward girls who were more or less connected with the Episcopal Church. Parental and good home conditions were sadly lacking in most cases. On the basis of this study the society began its work of information to the church and of helpfulness to the girls. During the year 1912 it was in touch with 352 girls, of whom 148 were under its direct care, 58 were cared for on leaving institutions, and 103 were in institutions. Two hundred and six of these girls were connected with the Episcopal Church. Twelve other religious bodies were represented, while a small number of the girls had no religious affiliations. All cases are referred, where possible, to the churches with which they are or were connected. The work of this society is largely personal. Besides locating girls in homes and institutions, employment is found for those fitted for it. Some court work is done. In addition to paid workers, an increasing number of trained volunteers are being used. Besides the care of the church girl and the work of education and prevention done by this society, its service of visitation in institutions is most valuable. The visits of sympathetic women to girls in institutions pave the way for a useful service in their social reinstatement later.

The wider work of the New York Probation Association, which deserves mention here, is in the form of a careful study of all the cases with which it has to do. A thorough physical examination is given each girl by a physician. A mental examination follows and cases are placed under the direct supervision of a skilled neurologist and psychologist. Careful records of all facts are kept. The discovery of physical and mental weakness, often after prolonged study, leads to a definite course of action. Such scientific results are not only valuable in the practical treatment of the individual girl, but furnish a basis on which the courts act, and are of wide usefulness to the student of the conditions which lead to moral delinquency.

(c) CORRECTIONAL WORK

There are three main correctional agencies in New York City: the New York State Training School for Girls at Hudson, the State Reformatory for Women at Bedford and the Workhouse. A real work of correction is also accomplished in the case of those committed to the House of the Good Shepherd, the House of Mercy, and the Magdalen Benevolent Society Home. The State Farm for Women, to be situated at Valatie, is not yet established, and the House of Detention, in connection with the Night Court for women, which would serve as an intermediary to correctional agencies, is not yet available.

The New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills, New York, was opened for commitment in May, 1901. It is supported entirely by state appropriations. It receives women between the ages of sixteen and thirty years from the First, Second, Third and Ninth Judicial District, i. e., Greater New York, Long Island and the tier of counties on each side of the Hudson River as far north as Albany. Over 80 percent of its inmates come from Greater New York. A woman of suitable age may be committed by any judge or magistrate for any offense over which he has jurisdiction, except murder in the first and second degrees, provided, however, that the woman has not previously been convicted of a felony.

The institution is situated in the heart of Westchester County—39 miles north of New York City. Here the State owns 192 acres of land and leases an additional 57 acres. It has at the present time a capacity for 340 inmates, with a population of 505; the expenditure for maintenance last year was $4.06 per week per capita. It is built on the cottage plan. This permits of classification, whereby the younger girls are separated from the older women and the less innocent from the more hardened offenders.

The idea of the institution is that of a good industrial school. There are book schools in which the inmates receive instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, nature study, etc. Physiology and sex hygiene are taught by the resident physician. All the work of the farm, including the care of the cattle, pigs and other live stock, is performed by the inmates, with the exception of the plowing. Much out-door work of a constructive character is carried on, both for its physical effects and for mental and moral results. In this constructive work is included a milk house, silo, stairways and sidewalks made of concrete. Industrial training in laundry work, various branches of needle work, cooking and other branches of domestic science is given. The inmates have musical and dramatic clubs. Their religious needs are met by services conducted by clergymen of their respective denominations.

The Board of Managers constitute a Board of Parole and while the inmates are all committed for a maximum of three years, they may be paroled at any time, if in the judgment of the Board of Managers, such action is considered to be for their best interest. Parole officers find suitable homes and suitable work for the paroled women and follow them up carefully until the expiration of the parole period.

The New York State Training School receives girls under sixteen years of age from the entire state. Those from New York City come through the Children’s Court. The equipment of the school is very good, the chief need being for more room. The cottage system used accommodates 385 girls, in separate sleeping rooms. It is, however, necessary to use other buildings and parts of buildings for housing purposes. The households are practically independent of each other, thereby offering, as far as is possible, the conditions and spirit of a real home.

The methods of work and the life in the school are most commendable. A personal and individual interest in each girl is manifest from the time of commitment through the school life and for years after the school is left. By careful study each one is placed in the cottage and environment where she will receive the most help and the best training. Changes to insure development are made, as necessary. A girl’s grading depends on her conduct and proficiency. Discipline is varied, with the principle always in mind that the individual and not the offense is to be treated. Humiliation and loss of self-respect are avoided, if possible. The living conditions and training seem excellent. The girls do the cottage work, changes being so arranged as to give all a thorough experience in housework. School sessions of fifteen hours weekly in the morning and eight weekly in the afternoon prevail. The morning session is the book school, the afternoon the industrial school. Cooking, plain sewing, dressmaking, physical culture, gardening, and vocal music are carefully taught. Religious instruction is given by representatives of various churches under direction of the state. Amusements are afforded at proper times, are well arranged and heartily indulged in. That there is a spirit of pride and enthusiasm in work and a feeling of happiness in the life is quite believable when one realizes that so many old girls wish to visit the school that they cannot be accommodated. The records show that the delinquent girl of normal mind can be and is cured. Girls of sub-normal mind are still to some extent cared for in this school; but they should be in a special institution.

The Workhouse receives about 75 percent of all women prisoners convicted of offenses related to prostitution in the magistrates’ courts in this city. In the year 1912, three thousand, five hundred and thirteen women charged with soliciting and loitering were committed to the Workhouse for periods up to six months. About 50 percent of these, as shown by the fingerprint process, are repeaters, each of whom had been arrested from two to eight times. The life in the Workhouse is generally conceded to be not only useless but actually harmful. The Chief Magistrate of the city has stated in print the following: “The present Workhouse, through no fault of the Commissioner or its officers, is a poor place for these women. The building does not meet the requirements for these cases. A new institution should be provided; not a lounging, unsanitary place, but a real workhouse, looking to reformation as well as punishment.”

The reformatories in 1912 received through the courts 286 women. To Bedford were committed, 108; to the House of Mercy, 4; to the House of the Good Shepherd, 100; to the Magdalen Home, 74. Most, though not all these cases, were strictly related to prostitution. Through the Children’s Court of the city, of the 120 cases charged with tendency to moral depravity and convicted in the year 1912, sixty-two were committed to institutions and 58 were placed on probation. Girls under sixteen committed to the House of the Good Shepherd numbered 64, to the House of Mercy, 57, and to the Training School at Hudson, 32; but not all of these cases involved immorality.

The following table summarizes the institutions for friendless and wayward girls, in so far as they are described in the text; though numerous, their capacity and resources are obviously quite inadequate to the need:

Appendices

APPENDIX I

SUMMARY OF PLACES IN MANHATTAN WHERE PROSTITUTION WAS FOUND TO EXIST
DURING PERIOD OF INVESTIGATION (JANUARY 24TH TO NOVEMBER 15TH, 1912)

APPENDIX II

SUMMARY OF PLACES IN MANHATTAN CATERING TO PROSTITUTION—INVESTIGATED
JANUARY 24TH TO NOVEMBER 15TH, 1912

APPENDIX III

SUMMARY OF INMATES COUNTED AND ESTIMATED AT PLACES IN MANHATTAN WHERE PROSTITUTION WAS
REPORTED DURING PERIOD OF INVESTIGATION FROM JANUARY 24TH TO NOVEMBER 15TH, 1912

APPENDIX IV

MONTHLY EXPENSES OF THIRTY ONE-DOLLAR PARLOR HOUSES

APPENDIX V

MONTHLY EXPENSES OF TEN DISORDERLY APARTMENTS IN TENEMENT BUILDINGS

APPENDIX VI

MONTHLY EXPENSES OF EIGHT FIVE-DOLLAR PARLOR HOUSES