(Lillian Wald as a nurse when she was younger)

Her Legacy

Henry Street Settlement and the Visiting Nurse Service of NY are still around today carrying out Wald's plans. In 1915, Henry Street Settlement had 100 nurses who cared for more than 26,575 patients and made more than 227,000 home visits. Also, her insistence on public school nurses led to their hiring and helping many children who had never received medical care before. Her campaigns for women suffrage, workers' and immigrants' rights, African Americans, public school nursing and special education, public health, prohibiting/improving child labor, and improving living conditions for the poor led to the society of today. Her ruthless determination to make America a better place for everyone completely changed the course of history. She is an individual in history who is to be greatly admired and thanked for saving the world from continuing its bleak future full of unprotested injustices and inequalities based on race, sex, or ethnicities. She is an inspiration for anyone with the urge to make a difference in the world and combat the evils of human nature.

Her Background

She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio but considered Rochester, NY to be her true hometown. Her parents were Minnie and Max Wald. Mr. Wald was a successful optical goods merchant so she lived a privileged life. She was the third born of four children and she was very close to her siblings: Alfred, Julia, and Gus. Alfred drowned in 1885. Her family was Jewish but she never received any formal Jewish instruction. The birth of her sister Julia's child inspired her to become a nurse because of how helpful the nurse was during this crucial time.

She attended private schools and went to an English-French Boarding School. She also went to the New York Hospital Training School to become a nurse. Later on she attended the Women's Medical College in NYC.

She was a professional nurse at the NY Juvenile Asylum, an orphanage for kids age five to 14, in 1891. In 1893, she taught a class in home nursing and hygiene to immigrant women on the lower east side. In 1899, she initiated lectures to attract potential nurses at Columbia University's Teachers College.

Her philosophy, objectives, and quotes

She was a practical idealist. Her goal was to create a more just society where "women and children, immigrants and the poor, all ethnicities and religious groups would realize America's promise of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'"

"Over broken asphalt, over dirty mattresses and heaps of refuse we went...There were two rooms and a family of seven not only lived here but shared their quarters with boarders...[I felt] ashamed of being a part of society that permitted such conditions to exist... What I had seen had shown me where my path lay."

[Her enthusiasm for special education project] "came from a deep-lying principle that every human being merits respectful consideration of his rights and his personality."

"Some have found the Settlement to be an opportunity for self-realization...All of us who have worked together have worked not for each other but for the cause of human progress; that is the beginning and it should be the end of The House of Henry Street."

"Never in all the years have we on Henry Street doubted the validity of our belief in the essential dignity of man and the obligations of each generation to do better for the oncoming generation."

Wald's Organization Participation and Achievements

1867: Lillian Wald was born on March 10th

1893: Founded Visiting Nursing Service

1895: Henry Street Settlement founded.
- Founder and member of Outdoor Recreation League- Seward Park

1902: Wald had the NYC Board of Education hire first public school nurse

1903: Helped found the Women’s Trade Union League

1904: Joined National Child Labor Committee

1908: 1st Department of Special Education established in NYC
- Lobbied for regular school lunch
- Investigated working conditions of immigrants for NY Governor Hughes- report led to
establishment of State Bureau of Industries of NY

1909: National Negro Conference held at Henry Street- founding of NAACP

1910: Columbia University created their Department of Nursing and Health
-Served on Joint Board of Sanitary Control

1912: Idea for Federal Children’s Bureau- established

1914: Participated in women’s peace parade and joined Women’s Peace Party

1915: President of American Union against Militarism
- Published “House on Henry Street”
- Protested "Birth of a Nation," a film by the KKK, with NAACP
- NY State Women's Suffrage Campaign

1919: Defended workers' rights publicly as a member of President Wilson's Industrial
Conference
- Represented the Federal Children's Bureau at a Red Cross conference in Cannes, France
- Attended the second International Conference on Women for Peace in Zurich, where members of the Women's Peace Party voted for the League of Nations and endorsed gender equality and woman suffrage-Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was founded

1920's: Lobbied for Prohibition

1933: Retired after her stroke-wrote books at home

1937: The New York Governor Lehman, Mayor LaGuardia, and President Roosevelt recognized her for her contributions to public heath. She was given an honorary degree and presented with the key to the city.

1940: Wald died on September 1st








Bibliography

“About our Founder, Lillian Wald.” Henry Street Settlement. March 1, 2009.
http://www.henrystreet.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_lwald.

“Exhibit: Women of Valor- Lillian Wald.” Jewish Women’s Archive. February 5, 2009.
http://jwa.org/exhibits/wov/wald/lw2.html.

Krain, Jacob. “Lillian Wald.” March 1, 2009.
http://www.jewishmag.com/51mag/wald/lillianwald.htm.