The Committee of Fourteen was founded on January 16, 1905, by members of the
New York Anti-Saloon League as an association dedicated to the abolition of
Raines law hotels.
History
Blue laws
Blue laws (also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws, and Sunday closing laws) are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...
banned saloons from selling alcoholic beverages on Sundays, but the Raines law of 1896 permitted hotels to do so. When saloon keepers responded by creating bedrooms, which were then used for
prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
, the Committee demanded inspections of premises to distinguish legitimate hotels from saloons. On May 1, 1905, a law was passed and required a city inspection to occur before a license was issued. By 1911, most Raines law hotels had closed, but the Committee remained active until it ran out of money in 1932, when it was disbanded.
Members of the Committee
*
William Henry Baldwin, Jr.
*
Raymond B. Fosdick
*
Walter G. Hooke
*
Alice Davis Menken
*
James Pedersen
*John P. Peters
*
George Haven Putnam
*
Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch[
* Francis Louis Slade
* Percy S. Straus
*]Lawrence Veiller
Lawrence Turner Veiller (1872–1959) was an American social reformer of the Progressive Era in New York. A major figure in tenement policy, urban planning, and good government movements of the early twentieth century, he has been described as "th ...
* Frederick H. Whitin
* George E. Worthington
See also
* Committee of Fifteen
* Black and tan clubs
Notes
* Research Committee of the Committee of Fourteen. (1910).
The social evil in New York city : a study of law enforcement
'
* Research Committee of the Committee of Fourteen. (1912, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1919–1924).
Annual Report
'
* Research Committee of the Committee of Fourteen. (1914-1915).
Annual Report
'
References
{{Prostitution in the United States, state=collapsed
Prostitution in New York (state)
1905 establishments in New York City
1932 disestablishments in New York (state)
Organizations based in New York (state)
Organizations established in 1905
Organizations disestablished in 1932