Lunch & Learn: Lillian Wald’s Henry Street – A Social Justice Blueprint

In March 1893, Jewish nurse Lillian Wald, aged 26, hurried through Manhattan's Lower East Side to aid a young mother abandoned by her doctor due to inability to pay. This encounter exposed Wald to the plight of the neighborhood's immigrant residents, inspiring her to create the Henry Street Settlement, a groundbreaking social welfare organization. 131 years later, Wald’s approach to social justice remains relevant and resonant. Delve into the early years of her remarkable endeavor – including her connection to Central Synagogue’s Rebekah Kohut, a prominent social activist – its significance in New York City and beyond, the Settlement’s ongoing efforts to foster a fairer society. 

Schedule:
12:00 PM Lunch (in-person only)
12:30 PM Lecture Begins
1:30 PM Lecture Concludes

Ellen M. Snyder-Grenier is a national-award-winning curator and writer, and principal of REW & Co. She directs research projects, develops museum exhibitions, and writes on urban history, with a focus on social justice. The author of an award-winning history of Brooklyn, Snyder-Grenier is a Fellow of the New York Academy of History. She is the author of The House on Henry Street: The Enduring Life of a Lower East Side Settlement (NYU Press, 2020).