Reformers and Charity: The Abolition of Public Outdoor Relief in New York City, 1870-1898

Abstract

In the 1870s New York City restructured its public relief system by abolishing municipal outdoor relief (the practice of giving goods, cash, or coal to recipients at home) and placing it under the jurisdiction of private organizations subsidized by the city. Desirous of reducing corruption and the power of Tammany Hall, municipal reformers aided advocates of scientific charity in removing relief from the public sector. The Charity Organization Society became the centralizing mechanism in the new system; imbued with laissez-faire notions and the values of moralistic scientific charity, it reduced welfare services to New York City's poor. As a consequence, Tammany Hall filled the vacuum left by the abolition of public outdoor relief, intensifying its extralegal welfare system and cultivating its image as a friend to the poor. This restructuring was imitated by other cities, consequently reducing the level of public assistance during a period of frenzied industrial swings. This system survived un...