Cornelia Foster Bradford (December 4, 1847 – January 15, 1935) was an American philanthropist and social reformer. She established a settlement house in
, in 1894.
Early life
Cornelia Foster Bradford was born in
Granby, New York
Granby is a town in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 6,821 at the 2010 census.
The Town of Granby is in the southwest corner of the county.
History
The town was first settled ''circa'' 1792. Granby was created in ...
, the daughter of Rev. Benjamin Franklin Bradford and Mary Amory Howe Bradford. She was descended from
William Bradford of Plymouth. Her father was a Congregational minister and an abolitionist who assisted people escaping slavery on their way to Canada. Cornelia F. Bradford graduated from Houghton Seminary in
Clinton, New York.
[Lubove, Roy]
"Who was Cornelia F. Bradford"
''PS 16 CPA Blog.''
Career
Bradford visited London as a young woman, and became interested in the settlement movement after a visit to
Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affili ...
and a stay at Mansfield House in East London. On her return to the United States, she worked at
Hull House
Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of Chicago, Hull House, named after the original house's first owner Charles Jerald Hul ...
in Chicago. In 1893 she moved to New Jersey, and the following year opened
Whittier House, a settlement house in the
Paulus Hook
Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is located across the river from Manhattan. The name Hook comes from the Dutch word "hoeck", which translates to "point of land." This "point of land" has ...
neighborhood of Jersey City.
[ ] Through Whittier House and the New Jersey Association of Neighborhood Workers, she established the city's first women's club, neighborhood watch, legal aid society, free kindergarten, and playground; the settlement house also offered a library, a medical dispensary, a kitchen, a gymnasium, classes, sports, performance space, and a summer camp.
Her programs were open to city residents of all races and ethnicities.
She helped
Juliet Clannon Cushing
Juliet Clannon Cushing (September 17, 1845 – September 6, 1934) was an American educator and labor activist, interested in protecting women workers and limiting child labor. She was a founder of the Consumers League of New Jersey in 1900, and ...
to organize the New Jersey
Consumers League and the Child Protective League.
She was president of the New Jersey Conference for Social Welfare; she also served a term as vice president of the National Federation of Settlements.
In 1912, she became the first woman appointed to the
Jersey City Board of Education. She worked for the establishment of a school in Paulus Hook, culminating in the opening of Public School 16 (PS 16) in 1918. In 1923 she was honored with an honorary master's degree from the New Jersey College of Women.
Personal life and legacy
Bradford retired in 1926.
She died in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...
, from heart failure in 1935, aged 87. PS 16 was renamed Cornelia F. Bradford School in 1944, in her memory.
In 2018, a portrait of Bradford which had hung at the school since its founding was restored and re-dedicated to mark the school's centennial, with a program remembering Bradford's work.
The
Boys & Girls Clubs of
Hudson County
Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...
also trace their origins to Bradford's work at Whittier House.
The Whittier House Social Settlement Papers are archived at the
New Jersey Historical Society
The New Jersey Historical Society is a historical society and museum located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The Historical Society is housed in the former headquarters of the Essex Club. It has two floors of exhibition spac ...
. A recent exhibit on New Jersey women's history at the
Meadowlands Museum featured a display on Cornelia Foster Bradford.
Bradford's niece,
Stella Stevens Bradford (1871–1959), became a medical doctor focused on physical rehabilitation and therapies for children affected by
polio
Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
,
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, and other diseases.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Cornelia Foster
1847 births
1935 deaths
People from Jersey City, New Jersey
American social workers
19th-century American philanthropists
Bradford family
American women philanthropists