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History of Big Brothers Big Sisters
In 1903, Irvin Westheimer, a 23-year-old businessman in Cincinnati saw a young boy and his dog scavenging through trash cans for food. Compelled by the sight of this boy, Irvin introduced himself and gave him a decent meal. He learned the boy's name was Tom, and that he was one of five children in a single-parent home. When Westheimer met Tom's mom and saw the impoverished state the family was in, he asked for permission to take Tom out on various outings. Tom's mom consented, and soon became a trusted mentor for the youth. Westheimer went on to found the Big Brother Association of Cincinnati 1910. Meanwhile, in 1904, Ernest Coulter, New York newspaperman who left journalism to work in the city's first children's court, started his own crusade to foster adult-youth who came through his courts. Coulter became increasingly appalled by the suffering and misery displayed by the thousands of children who passed through the court every year. On December 3, 1904, Coulter appeared at a men's club of Central Presbyterian Church of New York which included a group of civic and business leaders. He told them about a youngster who was destined to be sentenced for 18 months in a reformatory for a petty offense. "There is only one way to save that youngster," began Coulter, "and that is to have some earnest, true man volunteer to be his big brother, look after him, help him to do right…" Every man in the room raised his hand. From that meeting 40 men signed up to initiate a relationship with a boy from the court caseload, including the boy Ernest had described; thus he had his first group of Big Brothers. Activity continued to spread throughout New York City, and in 1909 some of these same men joined Ernest in formally incorporating the first Big Brothers Big Sisters' agency in the nation, Big Brothers of New York, Inc. Coulter himself spent 8 years unsuccessfully trying to rehabilitate a member of the English street gang. Nevertheless, the movement caught on, largely by contrasting itself to the emerging bureaucracies of the early twentieth century urban America. While
the Big Brothers were forming, so were the Big Sisters. The
Ladies of Charity on New York was one of the very first
mentoring organizations aimed at girls. Shortly after New
York Big Brothers was formed, the Ladies changed its name to
Catholic Big Sisters in 1905. Its founder was Mrs. John
O'Keefe, who is considered the first Big Sister. Her
earliest volunteers were primarily well to do wives of
influential businessmen and civic leaders in Manhattan.
Another Big Sisters organization formed in Milwaukee in
1909. Many people at one time considered the Big Sisters of
Milwaukee to be the first Big Sisters agency. No matter,
Milwaukee was the largest and best-organized Big Sisters
agency of the time, at one time serving hundreds of girls. |
