The Travelers' Aid Society: Moral Reform and Social Work in New York City, 1907–1916

Abstract

The Travelers' Aid SocietyMoral Reform and Social Work in New York City, 1907–1916 Eric C. Cimino In director James Gray's recent film The Immigrant (2014), a Polish immigrant named Ewa is awaiting deportation at Ellis Island when she encounters a man who claims to be a worker for the Travelers' Aid Society. The man, Bruno, promises Ewa a safe place to stay and a good job if she will leave the island with him.1 Having no other options, she agrees. Bruno escorts her off the island to an apartment on the Lower East Side, where Ewa senses that something is not right. Her initial suspicions are confirmed when the next day Bruno takes her to a seedy burlesque theater where she is put to work as a seamstress. He later pressures her into dancing for the theater's male patrons and, through constant psychological manipulation, ultimately convinces her to work for him as a prostitute. Ewa's immigrant American dream now shattered, she must find a way to survive amidst New York City's underworld. In reviews, film critics have presented a confused picture of Bruno's identity. For instance, A. O. Scott writing in the New York Times asserts that Bruno is a "well connected representative" of the Travelers' Aid Society.2 Others have called him an imposter who simply poses as an aid worker from a group that may or may not exist.3 Readers and film viewers may wonder if the Travelers' Aid Society has a history in New York and, [End Page 34] if so, was it a front used to recruit women into an illicit world of burlesque dancing and prostitution? The Travelers' Aid Society of New York (TAS) did indeed exist. And, it was not a front; rather, it was established to prevent women from falling victim to schemes similar to Bruno's. The prominent philanthropist, Grace Hoadley Dodge, founded the TAS in 1907 as a response to the moral and sexual dangers that she believed confronted single women (immigrant and native-born) as they entered American cities in search of work and leisure. Moral reformers, like Dodge, assumed that traveling women who were adrift from their family and community existed on the "border line of tragedy," where the slightest misstep could result in a downward spiral that culminated in white slavery, the coerced prostitution of white women.4 To prevent the tragedy of white slavery, the TAS provided social work to at-risk travelers at New York City's train stations and piers. Much of its work involved escorting travelers away from "danger zones" and to locations it deemed safe and respectable, such as the accommodations of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) and the Young Women's Hebrew Association.5 It also helped arriving travelers connect with family members and departing travelers to catch their trains and steamships. In more dramatic instances, the TAS separated female travelers from men who were judged to be imminently dangerous. When writing about social welfare and reform projects, like travelers' aid, scholars often invoke theories of social control and discipline. They claim that social welfare is used to compel working-class and poor people into behaving according to middle-class values for the sake of maintaining the industrial order and the state.6 However, a rival interpretation also [End Page 35] exists that presents welfare as a dynamic field that incorporates a wide-range of actors who have competing ideas about how to best serve clients and address social problems. This literature maintains that in addition to having a history of discipline and control, social work also has a tradition of benevolence and empowerment.7 This essay draws from both perspectives. It takes seriously the Travelers' Aid Society's claims to protect and assist travelers, while also acknowledging the organization's disciplinary features. It argues that the TAS's coercive elements were moderate during its period as a women's organization (1907–1910), which allowed members of the group, more often than not, to provide valuable aid to travelers. Travelers who could, for example, use assistance navigating a crowded station, locating a city address, or finding a job accepted travelers' aid...