HISTORY
HISTORY OF THE WASHINGTON SQUARE FUND
1866 First Home on West Houston Street opened and engaged staff, including “an experienced Superintendent and Matron,” to “restore (the girls) to the paths of virtue and of happiness” and give them the skills to pursue an honest livelihood
1873 The Home, now called “The Home for Fallen and Friendless Girls,” moved to West 4th Street
1881 The building at 49 Washington Square South was purchased and was so successful that, seven years later, it rented the adjoining house, enabling it to accommodate 50 to 60 young women
1891 report is the first to mention motherhood
1892 Board purchased and renovated “a comfortable old family residence” at 141 West 4th Street, as a place for “those of the family who become mothers” to live with their children, known as “the Mother’s Annex.”
1899 Work with mothers and babies had to be given up due to laws in city changing.
The word “fallen” was dropped from the name, which became the Washington Square Home for Friendless Girls.
1903 The Home moved to 9 West 8th Street. An endowment fund was established
1912 Young women were able to stay in the country in New Jersey, where they raised their vegetables and canned fruit.
1913 Thanks to a generous donor, a 12-acre farm was purchased on Staten Island for a summer home. Another donor gave money for a program in the city for young mothers and their babies. The success of these programs led the Home to concentrate on helping single mothers and their children.
1921 another legacy enabled the Home to set up a place with daycare where mothers and babies could board for a nominal sum.
1924 The Home to expanded into an adjacent building and give the mothers the privacy to create a “real home atmosphere.”
1931 The building for the working mothers was rented out, and a smaller contingent was housed at 9 West 8th Street.
1945 West 8th Street building, deemed inadequate, was sold, and the Home moved to more modern quarters on East 82nd Street
1953 changing attitudes toward unmarried mothers brought changes to the Home, and a professional social worker was hired as director. Clients were increasingly drawn from diverse ethnic, racial, economic and religious backgrounds
1958 Women came from 22 states and four different countries. Occupations ran the gamut: business executives, factory workers, students, artists, nurses, clerical workers, a journalist, a naval officer and a lab technician. Most of these women chose to give their babies up for adoption
1963 the New York State Department of Welfare made a survey of the Home and commended it for its sound fiscal policy, the quality of its service to the community, and the high caliber of its staff
1972 The Washington Square Home was sold and the proceeds created the endowment for the Washington Square Fund. The mission of pregnancy prevention education for girls and young women became the focus of the Fund as it is today.