Dates
- Majority of material found within 1910-1928
Scope and Content Notes
Although the Charity Organization Society was founded in 1884, no unprinted documents survive before 1910. This collection consists of Annual Reports, Cash books, Ledgers, Subscriptions books and lists, and Vouchers for payment, the latter dating from 1910 to 1928.
The records in the collection begin with the Cash Book of 1910-1916, although the "Early History of the Charity Organization Society", a printed paper written by President James Neilson in 1914 and included in the General Files, gives earlier information. In addition, an early Annual Report of the Charity Organization Society can be found in the Sinclair New Jersey Collection.
Financial documentation increases in 1916, with the arrival of General Secretary Mary Oakley Hay. Hundreds of vouchers for payment survive, as do Journals, an alphabetized Subscription Book, Subscription Lists, and Annual Reports for 1917, 1919-20 and 1920-21.
The Cash books, the Journal and the Ledger all give running accounts of the expenses of operating the Charity Organization Society. The Cash Book of 1917-1922 also gives subscriptions as they come into the account. The Treasurer's Reports are yearly summaries intended for publication in the Annual Reports. The Vouchers are a wealth of information about the daily operation of the Society -to whom it gave aid and how, through their bills to and from local businesses.
The General Files, along with the "Early History", contain printed broadsides, copies of newspaper articles, and printed announcements which were moved to this collection from the New Jersey Vertical File. These files also include miscellaneous items which are listed in the Series Description in more detail.
Extent
0.6 Cubic Feet (2 manuscript box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Charity Organization Society was founded in 1884, no unprinted documents survive before 1910. This collection consists of Annual Reports, Cash books, Ledgers, Subscriptions books and lists, and Vouchers for payment, the latter dating from 1910 to 1928.
History of the Charity Organization Society of New Brunswick
The Charity Organization Society of New Brunswick, New Jersey was founded in October 1884. It was inspired by the original Charity organization Society in London, instituted in the early 1870s, and emulated by many other cities in Britain and then in the United States.
Its purpose was to provide aid to those in poverty in New Brunswick. To paraphrase objectives published in a leaflet in 1884, the Society was to be a center of intercommunication between the various charities in the city. It was to investigate the cases of applicants for relief, and obtain relief for deserving cases from the appropriate charitable agency. In addition, the Society would procure work for those in poverty who were capable of work, discourage the practice of begging, and "promote the general welfare of the poor by social and sanitary reforms and by the inculcation of habits of providence and self-dependence."
The history of the Society and its Objects and constitution was printed in a paper read before the New Brunswick, New Jersey Historical Club on May 21, 1914 by James Neilson, one of the founding members and later President ( included in the General Files)
The Society was reorganized in 1916, hiring Miss Mary Oakley Hay as General Secretary. The President was James Neilson, who had been Secretary and Treasurer in the original Society, the Vice President was Mrs. Alva Agee, the secretary was Mrs. W. H. Greene, and the Treasurer was Henry L. Schneeweiss. They remain the principal officers until the Society was disbanded in 1928.
The Annual Report of 1919-20 includes a statement from President Neilson that the Red Cross "has taken over [the Society] for the present, in order to increase efficiency and to avoid duplication of effort." The Acting General Secretary, Miss Suydam, who had taken over from Miss Hay, who left in 1919, continued with the Red Cross.
Since that is the last Annual Report available, it is not clear whether the Charity Organization Society operated independently again. In 1928, the Ledger of 1917-1928 reported that all funds were handed over to the Red Cross by President James Neilson and Treasurer Henry L. Schneeweiss, and established as a special fund.
- Title
- Inventory to the Charity Organization Society of New Brunswick Records
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Pamela S. Narbeth
- Date
- April 1994
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
- Sponsor
- Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State.
Part of the New Brunswick Special Collections Repository