United States 1909

Synopsis

In the early twentieth century, thousands of widowed and abandoned mothers became trapped in a horrifying catch-22 situation: to feed their families in an age when charities were over-burdened and the government provided no relief for destitute children, they had no choice but to work outside the home (almost invariably in jobs that were at best subsistence level), yet by working outside their homes they risked having their children taken by the state and placed in orphanages. In 1909 a group comprising mainly wealthy Jewish women formed the Widowed Mother's Fund Association specifically to help fatherless families in New York City remain together. The association and its founders were instrumental in obtaining the first government funding for dependant children in peacetime.

Timeline

• 1889: Flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills thousands.
• 1893: Wall Street stock prices plummet on 5 May, precipitating...