The Home for the Friendless: A ministry by Christian Women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1872-1939 |
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The Home for the Friendless A Ministry by Christian Women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1872-1939 by Dr. John F. Piper, Jr. Initial Decisions The Home for the Friendless was a ministry founded by a group of Christian women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1872. The original name of the ministry was the Woman's Christian Association, not related in any way to the Young Women's Christian Association. The women changed the name of their Association to the Home for the Friendless in 1876. Over the years there were occasional objections to the name on the grounds that it sounded unfriendly, if not heartless. Efforts to change it were not successful until 1939 when the Managers of the Home for the Friendless finally petitioned the Lycoming County Court to change the name to The Williamsport Home. The leaders of that home, which is currently located on Ravine Road in Loyalsock Township on the northern boundary of Williamsport, modified the mission, currently better defined as a program, but retained a significant part of the vision of the founders. The primary inspiration for the Woman's Christian Association came from women who were active in several Protestant churches in Williamsport. The city was in the midst of a lumber boom, one of the greatest in the history of the nation, and was growing rapidly. A group of Christian women had been considering "for some time" the possibility of helping meet the physical and spiritual needs of young women who were moving to town from nearby rural communities in search of work.1 They had not yet decided on a way to accomplish this when some of them attended a meeting at Pine Street Methodist Church on November 18, 1872, at the invitation of H. Howard Otto, one of the leaders of the recently organized Young Men's Christian Association. He had arranged for John Wanamaker, founder of John Wanamaker and Sons department store in Philadelphia, who was in town for a meeting of the YMCA, to speak to them. One of the women remembered that Wanamaker had made a "most touching appeal."2 The women's readiness to act combined with Wanamaker's appeal stimulated them to create the Association. They set about writing a Constitution, which was necessary to obtain a Charter of Incorporation from the County, and By-Laws. The legal process took about a year and was completed on November 26, 1873, with the able assistance of "the legal gentleman who has served us so many times without charge."3 He was most certainly attorney James M. Wood who signed his name to the legal document as the Solicitor for the Petitioner. His wife Lou was a charter member of the Association, and he was a prominent member of the Williamsport community having served as its first mayor in 1866. The text of Wanamaker's speech has not been found but the substance of it can be inferred from the mission the women adopted for their Association. Its "Object" as defined in its Constitution, was to provide ways "of rendering aid, temporary, moral and religious, especially to young women, who are dependent on their own exertions for support."4 Specifically, the members of the Board of Managers, "assisted by the members of the Association," were: to seek out women, taking up their residence in Williamsport, and endeavor to bring them under moral and religious influence - by aiding them in the selection of suitable boarding houses and employment, by introducing them to the members and privileges of this Association. Encouraging their attendance at some place of worship and by every means in their power, surrounding them with Christian associates.5 The Association retained throughout its history its primary motivation, the gender of its leaders, and its organizational structure. The motivation was the Christian faith's imperative to help those in need. In their First Annual Report, published in 1874, the key leaders of the group identified the exact nature of their Christian inspiration. We remember, with gratitude to Him whose love has dwelt in our hearts, the delightful fact that harmony and peace have been our The JOURNAL I Home for the Friendless 1
Object Description
Identifier | LCWHC-803 |
Title | The Home for the Friendless: A ministry by Christian Women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1872-1939 |
Author/Creator | Piper, John F., 1936 - |
Contributors | Lycoming County Historical Society (Pa.) |
Description | A history of the Home for the Friendless, published in The Journal of the Lycoming County Historical Society, Vol. XLIX, Winter 2013-2014 |
Subject-Local | Social reform |
Subject-General | Home for the Friendless (Williamsport, Pa.) |
Topic | Social reform |
Digital Collection | Lycoming College Archives |
Holding institution | Lycoming County Historical Society |
Type.original | text |
Type.digital | image |
Format.digital | TIFF |
Related files | Lycoming County Women's History Collection: www.lycoming.edu/orgs/lcwhc |
Coverage.geographical | United States; Pennsylvania; Lycoming; Williamsport |
Rights | For permission to use, contact the Lycoming County Historical Society |
Contributing Institution | Lycoming College |
Sponsorship | This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
Description
Identifier | LCWHC-803 |
Title | The Home for the Friendless: A ministry by Christian Women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1872-1939 |
Author/Creator | Piper, John F., 1936 - |
Contributors | Lycoming County Historical Society (Pa.) |
Description | A history of the Home for the Friendless, published in The Journal of the Lycoming County Historical Society, Vol. XLIX, Winter 2013-2014 |
Subject-Local | Social reform |
Subject-General | Home for the Friendless (Williamsport, Pa.) |
Digital Collection | Lycoming College Archives |
Holding institution | Lycoming County Historical Society |
Date.digital | 2017-03-29 |
Type.original | text |
Type.digital | image |
Format.digital | TIFF |
Related files | Lycoming County Women's History Collection: www.lycoming.edu/orgs/lcwhc |
Coverage.geographical | United States; Pennsylvania; Lycoming; Williamsport |
Rights | For permission to use, contact the Lycoming County Historical Society |
Contributing Institution | Lycoming College |
Transcript | The Home for the Friendless A Ministry by Christian Women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 1872-1939 by Dr. John F. Piper, Jr. Initial Decisions The Home for the Friendless was a ministry founded by a group of Christian women in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1872. The original name of the ministry was the Woman's Christian Association, not related in any way to the Young Women's Christian Association. The women changed the name of their Association to the Home for the Friendless in 1876. Over the years there were occasional objections to the name on the grounds that it sounded unfriendly, if not heartless. Efforts to change it were not successful until 1939 when the Managers of the Home for the Friendless finally petitioned the Lycoming County Court to change the name to The Williamsport Home. The leaders of that home, which is currently located on Ravine Road in Loyalsock Township on the northern boundary of Williamsport, modified the mission, currently better defined as a program, but retained a significant part of the vision of the founders. The primary inspiration for the Woman's Christian Association came from women who were active in several Protestant churches in Williamsport. The city was in the midst of a lumber boom, one of the greatest in the history of the nation, and was growing rapidly. A group of Christian women had been considering "for some time" the possibility of helping meet the physical and spiritual needs of young women who were moving to town from nearby rural communities in search of work.1 They had not yet decided on a way to accomplish this when some of them attended a meeting at Pine Street Methodist Church on November 18, 1872, at the invitation of H. Howard Otto, one of the leaders of the recently organized Young Men's Christian Association. He had arranged for John Wanamaker, founder of John Wanamaker and Sons department store in Philadelphia, who was in town for a meeting of the YMCA, to speak to them. One of the women remembered that Wanamaker had made a "most touching appeal."2 The women's readiness to act combined with Wanamaker's appeal stimulated them to create the Association. They set about writing a Constitution, which was necessary to obtain a Charter of Incorporation from the County, and By-Laws. The legal process took about a year and was completed on November 26, 1873, with the able assistance of "the legal gentleman who has served us so many times without charge."3 He was most certainly attorney James M. Wood who signed his name to the legal document as the Solicitor for the Petitioner. His wife Lou was a charter member of the Association, and he was a prominent member of the Williamsport community having served as its first mayor in 1866. The text of Wanamaker's speech has not been found but the substance of it can be inferred from the mission the women adopted for their Association. Its "Object" as defined in its Constitution, was to provide ways "of rendering aid, temporary, moral and religious, especially to young women, who are dependent on their own exertions for support."4 Specifically, the members of the Board of Managers, "assisted by the members of the Association," were: to seek out women, taking up their residence in Williamsport, and endeavor to bring them under moral and religious influence - by aiding them in the selection of suitable boarding houses and employment, by introducing them to the members and privileges of this Association. Encouraging their attendance at some place of worship and by every means in their power, surrounding them with Christian associates.5 The Association retained throughout its history its primary motivation, the gender of its leaders, and its organizational structure. The motivation was the Christian faith's imperative to help those in need. In their First Annual Report, published in 1874, the key leaders of the group identified the exact nature of their Christian inspiration. We remember, with gratitude to Him whose love has dwelt in our hearts, the delightful fact that harmony and peace have been our The JOURNAL I Home for the Friendless 1 |
Sponsorship | This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
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