Advocate: Lillian Wald Lillian Wald

¶ … Advocate: Lillian Wald

Lillian Wald was born into a family of six in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 10, 1867. Her parents had come to America from Europe long before Lillian was born, in hopes of living out the American Dream. They did indeed live the dream, with Lillian and her siblings growing up in a wealthy and highly cultured environment. But no amount of money could ease the pain when Lillian's brother Alfred died in 1885 due to an accidental drowning. After this tragic accident, Lillian and her family moved to New York, where Lillian pursued her education in an upscale boarding school. Although the family had Jewish heritage, they did not actively practice the faith ("Lillian Wald, 1867 -- 1940," 2010).

Lillian's life experiences, including the death of her brother and her opportunity to assist with the birth of her sister's first child, contributed strongly to Lillian's desire to become a nurse. After finishing nursing school, she went to work at an orphanage, where she was appalled at the way in which the children were treated. This was the beginning of her fight for human rights that had her spending most of her life "championing the causes of public health nursing, housing reform, suffrage, world peace, and the rights of women, children, immigrants and working people" ("Lillian Wald, 1867 -- 1940," 2010, p. 1).

Her Cause

Lillian fought for the rights of all people to live a better, healthier life. Her primary concern was public health for the poor and underprivileged, especially immigrants; and she had a definite soft spot for children. In fact she is considered by many to be the founder of public health nursing in the United States (Feld, 2009).

Her Accomplishments

Lillian Wald's accomplishments were numerous. The main highlights are: 1) She co-founded Manhattan's Henry Street Settlement, which helped poor immigrants settle into the community; 2) She co-founded and ran "The Settlement" -- a community recreation center and provider of medical services to the poor; 3) She co-founded the world's first public school nursing service and was the first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing; 4) She advocated strongly for child welfare, eventually helping to inspire the creation of the U.S. Children's Bureau. These are just the primary highlights of a long and productive career as an advocate for the underprivileged (Epstein, 1962).

Obstacles She Faced

Lillian's commitment to human rights earned her the love and admiration of the community, but also garnered the resentment of city officials. Not only did she have the distinction of being a Jewish woman, but her exposure of the maltreatment of vulnerable people at the hands of the government caused a considerable amount of opposition. According to Reznick (1973) "Lillian Wald identified three formidable obstacles to improvement: the material interests of child-exploiters; a 'sentimental unanalytical sympathy' for the poor; and lax or corruptly selective law enforcement." (p. 287). Fortunately, she was able to overcome most of the obstacles with dedication and perseverance.

Her Impact

The impact of Lillian Wald's work was tremendous and enduring. She essentially launched the social welfare movement, setting in motion numerous institutions and policies that are still in place today. As is stated by the Jewish Women's Archive, "Wald became an influential leader in city, state, and national politics. Her tireless efforts to link the health of children with the health of nations made her a model of achievement, caring, and integrity throughout her lifetime" (p. 1).

Lillian is one of a small group of women who will go down in history as making such huge advancements in social advocacy. Her work has improved the quality of life for millions of poor immigrants and children, even after her death. Although she passed away in 1940, her legacy will live on forever. Her Manhattan's Henry Street Settlement, which she wrote two autobiographies about, set the stage for hundreds of other settlement facilities across the United States. "The Settlement" also became a model for community service nationwide. Furthermore, Lillian's work the National Organization for Public Health Nursing inspired a widespread interest in public health nursing. Lillian was never one to back down from a fight. If she believed in something, she worked to make it happen. If it were not for her, who knows how long it would have been before an agency such as the U.S. Children's Bureau would have been created. The impact of Lillian Wold's work will surely continue to resonate throughout the 21st century.

Current Advocate: Marian Wright Edelman

Background Information

Marian Wright Edelman was born into a family of seven in 1939 in Bennettsville, South Carolina. Her father, a Baptist preacher, passed away when Marian was only 14 years old, but she never forgot the values he instilled in her about education, hard work and compassion. While studying at Yale Law School, Marian got heavily involved in the civil rights movement and made a promise to herself to use her law degree to work for the betterment of the people. After she graduated, she moved to Mississippi where she became and advocate for social justice, particularly focusing on issues related to racial injustices. She later moved to Washington D.C. with her new husband, where she started the "Poor People's Campaign." It was then that she began to shift her focus somewhat to children of poverty (Lewis, 2010).

Her Cause

Marian fights for the underprivileged, whether they are victims of racial injustice, economic injustice or any type of injustice that she sees being ignored. She is particularly active in pursuing the rights of, and improvement of the quality of life for, minority and disabled children. Additionally, "as part of the efforts of Marian Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense Fund on behalf of children, she has also advocated pregnancy prevention, child care funding, health care funding, prenatal care, parental responsibility for education in values, reducing the violent images presented to children, and selective gun control in the wake of school shootings" (Lewis, 2010, p. 1).

Her Accomplishments

Marian Wright Edelman's most noted accomplishment is being the founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) which she established in 1973. The CDF advocates publicly for disadvantaged children who have suffered due to poverty, racial inequities and/or disabilities. Marian works as a public speaker, a lobbyist and a researcher. She refuses to allow the government to influence the CDF in any way so she will only accept private financial contributors. This keeps personal political agendas out of the equation so that the organization can do what it was designed to do: to help people. In fact, according to Lewis (2010) "In the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was elected President, Hillary Clinton's involvement with the Children's Defense Fund meant that there was significantly more attention given to the organization. But Edelman did not pull her punches in criticizing the Clinton administration's legislative agenda - such as its 'welfare reform' initiatives - when she believed these would be disadvantageous to the nation's neediest children" (p. 1). Marian has also won numerous awards for her social advocacy, including: 1) ABC's Person of the Week: "The Children's Champion" (1991); 2) the MacArthur Genius Award; and 3) Over sixty five honorary degrees (Lewis, 2010).

Obstacles She Has Faced

One of the greatest obstacles Marian has faced is her commitment to only procure private funding. Clearly, this limits her financial options, however Marian stands strong in her belief that she would only be hurting the CDF and the people it helps if she were to go any other way. She has been quoted as saying "I decided long ago never to take a government dollar, and I have never been so happy in my life at a decision" (Imig, 1996, p. 46).