Commercialized Prostitution in New York City Part 21

IV V -------------------------------------- _Street Prost.i.tutes_ _Combined_ 1106 cases 2363 cases 344 foreign born 664 foreign born -------------------------------------- Russia Russia Germany Germany Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary England-Scotland Ireland Ireland England-Scotland France-Canada France-Canada (equal) (equal) Italy Italy

TABLE L

COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY AS TO BIRTHPLACE COMPARED WITH BIRTHPLACE OF 2363 PROSt.i.tUTES

---------------------+------------+------------+-------------+----------- I II III IV ---------------------+------------+------------+-------------+----------- Population of New _1910_[314] Percentage Prost.i.tutes Percentage York City 4,766,883 of 2363 of --------- Population cases prost.i.tutes --------- +------------+-------------+----------- Native White 2,741,504 57.3% 1586 67.1 Foreign White 1,927,720 40.43 664 28.0 Negro 91,702 1.92 113 4.78 All other 5,957 .12 ... ...

---------------------+------------+------------+-------------+----------- _Of the foreign born_ _Percent. entire pop._ ---------------------+------------+------------+-------------+----------- Russia 485,600 10.18 197 8.33 Italy 340,400 7.14 21 .88 Germany 279,200 5.85 122 5.12 Austria-Hungary 265,500 5.57 110 4.65 Ireland 252,500 5.29 58 2.45 England-Scotland 104,100 2.18 57 2.41 France 18,200 .38 25 1.05 ---------------------+------------+------------+-------------+----------- Canada ... ... 25 1.05 ---------------------+------------+------------+-------------+-----------

TABLE LI

COMPARISON OF EARNINGS AT PREVIOUS OCCUPATIONS OF BEDFORD CASES WITH THOSE OF OTHER INSt.i.tUTIONS AND WITH THE STREET CASES

_Average_ { Domestic service { High $4.50 } with 52 cases Bedford { { Low 3.00 } board 52 "

{ Other occupations { High 8.00 110 "

{ { Low 4.00 100 "

{ Domestic service { High 5.00 } with 156 "

Other { { Low 4.50 } board 156 "

Inst.i.tutions { Other occupations { High 6.00 377 "

{ { Low 5.00 377 "

{ Domestic service { High 5.43 } with 30 "

Street { { Low 4.29 } board 27 "

Cases { Other occupations { High 13.92 420 "

{ { Low 9.88 332 "

TOTAL CASES CONSIDERED: Domestic service 238 Other occupations 907--1145

CHAPTER IX

PREVENTIVE, REFORMATIVE, AND CORRECTIONAL AGENCIES IN NEW YORK CITY

The agencies working to meet the need of wayward and professional delinquent women and girls in New York City are both private and public, direct and indirect. Work in this field can rarely be strictly characterized as either preventive, reformative or correctional. Almost all the agencies in question do both a preventive and a reformative work, though, in the main, the tendency toward preventive work is stronger than that toward rescue work. The following account is not exhaustive, but aims to deal with the representative inst.i.tutions in each field.

(a) THE WORK OF PREVENTION

Preventive agencies cover a very wide range, beginning of course with the home and family, the school and the church; but important as these and similar inst.i.tutions are, they are too general to come within the scope of this chapter. There are, however, certain societies and inst.i.tutions which exert a potent though indirect influence,--among them the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, the Society for the Prevention of Crime and the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. A few inst.i.tutions render more direct service,--the a.s.sociation for Befriending Children and Young Girls and the Children's Aid Society, for example.

These, with the Home for the Friendless, the Sheltering Arms, the girls'

departments of the Catholic Protectorate, the Juvenile Asylum, and other organizations maintain homes for the young. There are, moreover, numerous settlements with a hold on the young through kindergartens, clubs, and friendly services, doing a quiet but constantly effective preventive work; independent girls' clubs, thirty special ones in New York, providing opportunities for friends.h.i.+p, recreation and training; some societies, such as the Girls' Friendly, offering attractions to girls who have few advantages in their homes. The work of the Committee on Amus.e.m.e.nts and Vacation Resources of Working Girls has been active in the difficult dance hall problem, previously shown to be an important factor in the exploitation of prost.i.tution. The Travelers' Aid Society, which a.s.sists incoming women of all cla.s.ses at railway stations and docks, is a valuable safeguard. This society definitely helped 18,562 persons in the year 1912.

Of these, 5,161 were from seventeen to twenty-five years of age, and nearly all women. Similar work for traveling colored girls is done by a department of the National League on Urban Conditions among Negroes. The Big Sisters a.s.sist girls who have already come to the point of grave danger. Working along the lines already marked out by the Big Brothers'

Movement, women of devoted abilities are taking little girls who have already yielded to temptation and endeavoring to win them to useful lives.

Homes for working girls and women, though touching this need indirectly, touch it strongly. There are many of these homes, maintained by philanthropic and religious boards of women; seventeen hundred women are accommodated in them. Their economic value has long been realized; their moral and social importance is beginning to be appreciated. Their usefulness as preventive agencies probably varies with the degree of experience, resourcefulness, and sympathy possessed by those who are directly in charge.

Among the more definitely preventive agencies may be mentioned, first, societies of a national scope which aim to create healthy sentiment by emphasizing the grave dangers of the social evil. Such are the American Federation of s.e.x Hygiene and the Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis, operating through meetings, lectures and printed matter; the American Vigilance a.s.sociation, which, originally organized to secure legislation and law enforcement as respects the white slave traffic, has now extended its operations so that it is actively engaged in a propaganda that touches the entire field of commercialized vice; it publishes a monthly periodical, _Vigilance_.

Prominent among local organizations is the Committee of Fourteen, originally organized for the suppression of the Raines Law Hotels, now occupied in combating all manifestations of commercialized s.e.xual vice in New York. It endeavors to secure more vigorous and effective action by all departments of state and city government having power to suppress vice; and it also strives to improve conditions in saloons and hotels through the influence and control over such places exercised by brewers and surety companies.

Two societies doing important work in other lines are strongly interested in educational preventive work--the New York Probation a.s.sociation and the Church Mission of Help. Both make special appeal to churches, to societies, and to clubs of women. The Probation a.s.sociation organizes among working girls protective leagues, fourteen of which leagues have been started. Their main purpose is to secure the help of girls in protecting other girls. They endeavor to raise the tone of conversation in places where girls a.s.semble and work. Lectures on s.e.x hygiene are given, wholesome recreation is encouraged, and higher ideals of life cultivated.

The Church Mission of Help organizes bands of women, princ.i.p.ally in Episcopal churches, to study the needs of wayward girls and to give help as they are able. Both of these societies encourage parents, guardians, and girls in need to come to them for advice and help, thus making their work more personal.

The foregoing direct agencies mainly exert their preventive influence on the public _en ma.s.se_. The more definite and concrete examples of preventive work appear in the work of homes which concern themselves with individuals in distress. They take girls, some of them very young girls, who are subject to bad influences, who are incorrigible, or who for various reasons find difficulty in their home life. Of such homes there are several. Those reaching the larger numbers are represented by the Children's Department of the House of Mercy and the House of the Good Shepherd. For colored girls the work on the larger scale is done by the Howard Orphan Asylum, which maintains a house at Kings Park, Long Island.

The smaller homes, of which there are at least six in New York, deal more personally with the individual girl. Their capacity ranges from 25 to 75.

Of this type is the Free Home for Young Girls, managed by an incorporated a.s.sociation of church women. The inmates, mostly sent by guardians and friends, are from eleven to seventeen years of age. A real home life is maintained. Most of the girls attend the public schools. All are taught sewing, simple cooking, laundry work, and housework. They remain two or three years and are sent out to friends or to situations with approved surroundings. In Brooklyn the Training School and Home for Young Girls cares for and trains girls by a method similar to that of the Free Home.

Two of these homes are partly preventive and partly reformative--the House of the Holy Family and the Was.h.i.+ngton Square Home. The first named is conducted by the a.s.sociation for Befriending Young Girls, under the immediate charge of the Sisters of the Divine Compa.s.sion, and cares for 75 young girls, mostly Roman Catholics. Instruction in ordinary school branches is given. Physical exercises, manual training, and domestic science are taught. Special attention is given to the matter of amus.e.m.e.nts; religious as well as friendly care is provided. Provision is made for all girls leaving the home. Correspondence with Sisters and visits to the home are encouraged. This home cared for 177 girls in 1912.

The Was.h.i.+ngton Square Home is a non-sectarian inst.i.tution. It provides a home for indefinite periods for girls who have erred or who are in danger of so doing. They come voluntarily to the home. Twenty-seven can be accommodated and the home is usually full. Of the 64 received in 1912, fifty were Protestants, 12 Roman Catholics, and 2 Hebrews. The average age of the girls is 18. Instruction in housework, laundry, and plain sewing is given. Girls are kept as long as necessary to train for self-support.

All these homes maintain good discipline and friendly relations. The girls usually go out equipped to live and with a strong appreciation of what has been done for them. Unfortunately their facilities are very limited in consequence of the meager resources. Usually from three to eight girls occupy a room when, as a matter of principle, each girl should be given her own cubicle. Moreover, the capacity is far below what is required.[315] Even as it is, valuable preventive results have been accomplished in case of those girls who have been reached.

(b) REFORMATIVE WORK

The border line between preventive and reformative work is in theory definite and clear; in practice, as ill.u.s.trated by inst.i.tutions, it is rather hazy. These inst.i.tutions and homes endeavor to help women who have actually yielded to temptation or to force of circ.u.mstances.

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 cla.s.s. 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 a.s.sociation 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 s.p.a.ce 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 inst.i.tutions 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 leaders.h.i.+p 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 inst.i.tution 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 cla.s.ses according to their condition and purpose of entering the inst.i.tution. 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 inst.i.tution.

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 inst.i.tutions 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.ses for instruction, social entertainments, and religious services.