LILLIAN WALD
Lillian Wald was born on March 10, 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio, into a German-Jewish family. In 1878, her family moved to Rochester, New York, where she soon attended New York Hospital’s School of Nursing. She graduated in 1891, and began medical school at the Woman’s Medical College.
In 1893, Wald left medical school and began teaching nursing classes for poor families at the Hebrew Technical School for Girls. She soon began caring for residents of the Lower East Side of Manhattan as a visiting nurse, and soon after she founded the Henry Street Settlement. The organization provided health care services to New Yorkers, as well as social services and arts programs. The Henry Street Settlement still operates today, but has expanded to several buildings and locations since it was founded.
By 1913, the Henry Street Settlement had 92 staff members. While continuing to work at the Settlement, Wald started the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, a service that brought healthcare to the homes of those in need.
Lillian Wald supported a number of worthy causes. She advocated for putting nurses in public schools, and suggested a national health insurance plan. She assisted in founding the Columbia University School of Nursing, as well as the NAACP, and helped lead the National Child Labor Committee, a group that encouraged the implementation of child labor laws.
Wald died in 1940 at the age of 73. In 1970 she was elected into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans for her humanitarian acts throughout her life.
Further reading:
About her life:
- Lillian Wald http://www.henrystreet.org/about/history/lillian-wald.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/?referrer=http://www.henrystreet.org/about/history/lillian-wald.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
- Lillian Wald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Wald
About the Visiting Nurse Service of New York:
- http://www.vnsny.org/about-us/history/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visiting_Nurse_Service_of_New_York
About the Henry Street Settlement:
- Henry Street Settlement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Street_Settlement
- The House on Henry Street by Lillian Wald https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=gNYJAAAAIAAJ&rdid=book-gNYJAAAAIAAJ&rdot=1