Lillian Wald - Community Outreach

Community Outreach

Not content to improve people's lives just through nursing, Wald also taught women how to cook and sew, provided recreational activities for families, and got involved in the labor movement. Out of her concern for women's working conditions, she helped to found the Women's Trade Union League in 1903 and later served as a member of the executive committee of the New York City League. In 1910, Wald and several colleagues went on a six-month tour of Hawaii, Japan, China, and Russia, a trip that increased her involvement in worldwide humanitarian issues.

In 1915, Wald founded the Henry Street Neighborhood Playhouse to serve as a cultural center. She also lobbied for laws against child labor, to allow all children to attend school. She helped establish the United State Children’s Bureau, helped President Theodore Roosevelt create the Federal Children’s Bureau, and advocated for education of the mentally handicapped.