This little volume is intended as a
handbook for those who are beginning to
do charitable work in the homes of the
poor, whether as individuals or as
representatives of some church, or of
some religious society, such as the King's
Daughters, the Epworth League, or the
Christian Endeavor Society. The term
"friendly visitor" does not apply to one
who aimlessly visits the poor for a little
while, without making any effort to
improve their condition permanently or to
be a real friend to them. Friendly visiting,
as distinguished from district visiting,
originated with the charity organization
societies, some of which are indefatigable
in training volunteers to do effective work
in the homes of the poor. Though I should
be glad to find that my book was of some
service to these societies, it was not
prepared for their use alone, and no {vi}
mention is made, therefore, of the
organization of visitors into district
conferences. For inexperienced workers,
who need leadership in their charity, there
can be no better training than the
meetings of a well-organized conference
under a capable chairman, and even the
most experienced, by keeping in close
touch with such a conference, can do more
effective work.
The suggestions herein contained are not
to be taken as all applicable to the work of
any one visitor. Friendly visitors that tried
to adopt them all would have to abandon
their other interests, and their other
interests make them more useful friends to
the poor. Like the words in a dictionary,
some suggestions will be of service to a
few workers, and others will be found
applicable to the work of many.
In addition to the standard authorities
mentioned under General References, a
list for supplementary reading will be
found at the end of each chapter. These
lists are in no sense a bibliography of the
subject. A handbook such as this is chiefly
useful in suggesting further inquiry, and,
for beginners, I have thought best to
include a number of references out of the
{vii} beaten track to stories and magazine
articles that seemed illustrative of the
matter in hand.
It will be seen that I have borrowed much
in direct quotation in the following pages
from those who have preceded me in
writing about the poor, but my debt does
not end here. Whatever I may be said to
know about charitable work--my whole
point of view and inspiration in fact--can
be traced to certain definite sources. To
some of the leaders of the Charity
Organization Society of London, to Miss
Octavia Hill, Mrs. Bernard Bosanquet, and
Mr. C. S. Loch, it will be evident to my
readers that my obligation is great. It will
be evident also that I have been helped by
Mrs. Josephine Shaw Lowell and other
workers in New York, who, against such
odds, are making advances in the reform
of municipal abuses; and by that group too
who, under the leadership of Miss Jane
Addams, have given us, at Hull House in
Chicago, so admirable an object lesson in
the power of neighborliness. But more
than to any other teachers, perhaps, I am
indebted to those members of the
Associated Charities who organized
Boston's friendly visitors nineteen years
ago, and have {viii} led them since to
increasing usefulness. Their reports have
been my most valuable source of
information. If I do not name also my
friends and fellow-workers here in
Baltimore, it is not because I fail to bear
them individually most gratefully in mind.
BALTIMORE, January, 1899
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