The Woman’s Friend Society stems from a town meeting proposal made in 1875 by Kate Tannatt Woods, a Salem schoolteacher and representative of the Moral Education Society of Boston, who wanted to promote the “moral elevation of women.” Woods was backed by Salem’s Marshall, William M. Hill, who also called for a meeting at Salem’s Town Hall in order to raise money to help “purify” the area. Both claimed they were appalled by the lawlessness and lack of etiquette displayed by young women throughout Salem. On March 22, 1876, the Moral Education Society of Salem was officially formed; and soon changed its name to the Woman’s Friend Society. The group was designed to combat what Woods viewed as the community’s withdrawal from Puritan values, notably the amount of crime and vulgarity in Downtown Salem at the time. The organization created a Girl’s Reading Room in the Mayne’s Block building at 200 ½ Essex Street. This room was used as a meeting place, where local displaced youth could learn to read and have access to wholesome books. Looking to expand the society’s outreach, they began searching for a home to shelter homeless women and girls. The wife of Joseph Hodges offered her property at the corner of Essex Street and Daniels Street in Salem for three months rent free. It came to be called “The Daniels Street Home” (it is now the Daniels House Bed and Breakfast)
In 1876, the Bureau of Employment (later the Intelligence Office) was added to the society’s programs. It served to connect women with stable jobs in the area. In 1878, already outgrowing their current operations, the society placed an appeal in the local newspaper, requesting a home for their organization that would also serve as a shelter for women. Their appeal was answered by John Bertram, who despite being on his death bed was still practicing his well-known philanthropy. He offered them his half of the John Fenno House located at 12 Elm Street (Hawthorne Boulevard) for a period of five years. If within those five years, the society was able to maintain the home and continue their community efforts, the home would be gifted to them. The society moved in on May 9, 1879 and the building was nicknamed the “Working Women’s Bureau.” The success of their jobs program prompted the creation of a Committee on Registry to oversee it. That same year, Mrs. George D. Putnam, an early member and leader of the Woman's Friend Society, was officially named President.
In 1880, a Committee on Needlework was created, which taught sewing lessons and handed out supplies. This enabled woman to sell garments and linens out of their homes while caring for their children and sick family members. The following year, the Mission to the Sick began, which brought care to those who were bound to their homes by illness. This program would later evolve into the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Salem.
In 1884, Jennie Bertram Emmerton gave the house at 12 Elm Street to the Woman’s Friend Society on behalf of her deceased father, John Bertram. After receiving the deed, they began raising money to purchase the other half of the house but were initially met with resistance by the owners who asked for an unattainable sum. The society later named the building Emmerton House in honor of Jennie.
That same year, Esther C. Mack bequeathed money to the Woman's Friend Society to create an industrial school for women to learn sewing and cooking skills. In 1906, the Mack Industrial School opened at 17 Pickman Street, where it operated until 1920. In 1908, the school recorded having over 500 students and by 1910, these classes were opened to immigrant women arriving in Salem.
The Woman’s Friend Society continued its community outreach into the 20th-century and added classes for expectant mothers in the 1940s. In 1977, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) branched off of the society’s district nurse program but the two organizations continued to work together. In 1979, the Woman’s Friend Society offered their first house tour as a fundraiser for the VNA. This event evolved into Christmas in Salem, which remains an annual tradition in Salem and is now operated by Historic Salem, Inc. In 2008, the Emmerton House (John Fenno House) was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Digitized Archives
Woman's Friend Society Photographs and Ephemera
Woman's Friend Society Books and Pamphlets
Woman's Friend Society Records Finding Aid
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