Unlike such contemporaries as Jane Addams and Charlotte Gilman (they were all born within one year of one another) Richmond did not participate in the idealistic currents of reform associated with settlement house work, social feminism and feminist-influenced progressivism. Canon and Mrs. Barnett, Towards Social Reform (New York, 1909) p. 12. quoted in Allen F. Davis, Spearheads for Reform: the Social Settlements and the Progressive Movement, 18901914 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1967) p. 7. If persons concerned are loyal to present principles, they will continue to have a part in the development of new ideals and better method of service. Social Welfare History Project. Many major cities wanted to attract business, so taxation was kept to a minimum. In 1879, Plymouth Congregational Church started the Plymouth Mission to address these concerns. Social Darwinism led to abusive labor practices, oppressive government and, at its most extreme, systematic eugenics programs that sought to rid society of those deemed unfit. 693706. Industrialization, immigration, the discovery of oil and gold, the transportation revolution, and westward expansion brought vast new opportunitiesand extraordinary social and economic problems. All societies for organizing charity were eligible for membership provided they met minimum requirements. This has been a really wonderful article. She is definitely the mother of modern social work. Like other settlement houses of the day, its services were targeted to immigrants and the urban poor, including food, shelter, help with basic needs, higher education, English language, and citizenship classes. Just two months later, the Childrens Aid Society was founded to protect orphaned and abandoned children. At the time, Shaw Lowell served on the New York State Board of Charities as its first female commissioner. The Young Ladies Mission Band formed the La Crosse Home for Friendless Women and Children. Its volunteer workers, who were usually women, carefully interviewed those seeking aid, then matched assistance to individual need. Social Work and the Health Care System, 12. Known today as Northwood Childrens Services in Duluth, Minn., the organization provides residential and day treatment, family mental health, therapeutic foster care, special education, and other services. The Charity Organization Society of New York City, predecessor of the Community Service Society of New York, was founded in 1882 by Josephine Shaw Lowell. Such a missionary movement should be pushed by an organized executive force dedicated to the purpose to undertake a broad, energetic movement to bring order out of the unorganized charitable chaos.