Beyond Women's Sphere: Young Quaker Women and the Veil of Charity in Philadelphia, 1790-1810

Abstract

T | SHE first charitable organizations in Philadelphia operated entirely by women were started by young, single Quakers during the early years of the American republic.1 These charities were conceived by and appealed to young women who had matured beyond the dependency of adolescence and had yet to assume the responsibilities of married adulthood. In establishing their benevolent societies they created a new role for themselves. Without forgoing the traditional calling of care giver, these enterprising young women adopted tasks commonly performed by men-raising money, working with government officials, and managing complex business operations. Religiously informed concern for the poor, embodied in benevolent institutions, thus drew these daughters of the middling and upper classes beyond their gendered sphere-out of the private shelter of their homes and into the city's public, male-dominated spaces. In envisioning and instituting their charities, these Quaker women contributed to reforming women's responses to poverty and attitudes toward the poor, for though they helped only a small portion of Philadelphia's poor, their influence reached much farther. Following their example, other women's organizations sprang into being.2