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The Distinctly American Tradition of Charity
Johanna Neuman
From the Puritans to Paul Newman, a history of American volunteerism
In
This instinct to rally around a cause, to serve a greater good, has been with us since Colonial America. As
In the mid- to late 18th century, public service became less of a Christian mission and more of a civic duty.
Mindful of the gap in knowledge that separated the classes, Franklin borrowed an idea from
New advocates.
As the middle class grew in America, people found more opportunities to serve. By the 1830s, two groups who felt their lack of power -- women, who had no right to vote, and the clergy, their political authority weakened by the constitutional separation of church and state -- formed benevolent societies to focus on issues they felt hurt society. They advocated for ending illiteracy and abuse of prisoners, among other causes. What Gross called their "crusading spirit of reform" led to the great antebellum movements against slavery, cruelty, and "drink" that helped define the country for generations.
"All the institutions that we take for granted were started somewhere, somehow, by people who were in opposition to the status quo," observes
In 1840,
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary examples of service came from a woman who could only act after overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In 1849,
The Civil War would rally many to service, on both sides of the Mason-
Far-reaching relief.
Toward the end of the century, as the country industrialized and Americans moved to the cities, opportunities for volunteerism grew too. Jane Addams, born to a prosperous
Eventually the concept grew to a complex of 13 buildings and a web of diverse services that welled out of need. Addams offered the
Her impact on the social welfare profession, and on charitable organizations, was profound. Until then, many groups took a somewhat judgmental and paternalistic view of those in need. The charities "saw the poor largely as moral failures," says
The Depression changed the landscape of volunteerism and giving yet again. At its worst in 1933, 12 million Americans were out of work. Soup kitchens and bread lines, often run by churches or charities, formed all over the country, providing free if simple food to anyone in need. With one fourth of the labor force unemployed and men roaming the streets, having left their families in shame at not being able to provide for them, volunteerism became the work of innovation. Missions offered shelter. Doctors gave free care. Business clubs paid for one meal a day for the needy at neighborhood restaurants.
Soon the government began taking up the work of social welfare.
And in 1942, when
Defeating polio.
Amid the zeal of wartime patriotism, volunteers also found time to work for other causes. The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis -- founded in 1938 by a wheelchair-bound FDR and now called the March of Dimes -- kept marching in the cause of polio research and care. During the Depression, volunteers would arrive at homes with cardboard sheets punched with cutouts for dimes, asking families to deposit what they could for collection in a few weeks. From 1938 to 1955, they raised 4 billion dimes. As the epidemic spread, efforts to find a cure went community-wide, with politicians, newspapers, and clergy rallying to the cause. One night in 1950, 2,300 volunteers in
As a rule, "Americans think if they have a problem, they ought to get a group of citizens together to address it," says
Over the years, Americans have also shown themselves eager to respond when catastrophes struck overseas, as in the Asian tsunami of 2004 or the floods this summer in
In recent years, the boundary between public and private good works has softened. Politicians have long embraced volunteers, both as a great force for change and for moral inspiration, while continuing to respect their autonomy.
Another trend in American philanthropy the last few decades is to combine the muscle of the private sector with the social conscience of the nonprofit world. In 1982, actor
The enterprise has become a family affair. Newman's widow, actress
Volunteers of all ages and professions make up at least half of the staff, arriving singly or in groups, like the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. Today, there are 14 camps, with more in development, serving children from 45 countries on five continents. Since the first camp opened in
The work of Newman and so many other Americans directly reflects
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The Distinctly American Tradition of Charity
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