1858 - The Three Darlings or buy The Children of Adoption - Pub. by American Female Guardian Society, N Y - (copyright 1854) - RARE

This book measures 4 3/4 x 6 inches and has 100 pages. It is rated as GOOD++++ with the flaws being the covers show some wear and there is some scattered foxing (rust colored splotches on the paper).

The PREFACE says "There are many earnest, active spirits, who in this day of philanthropy are eagerly asking, "What good can we do? We have no money, we have no influence." To such this little book is addressed, with a desire that it may be to them a suggestive token that they are not, because poor and unknown, to be left out of the walks of usefulness. Like this good servant of the Lord, they may feel and care for some of the homeless, friendless little buy ones so numerous around us."-

The Female Moral Reform Society of New York was established by a group of women in 1834 with the intent of reforming New York City prostitutes as well as bolstering the morality of the population in general. Members of the society paid visits to the city's impoverished areas and jails where they preached, handed out tracts, and assisted the poor. By 1840, the society created an employment agency for prostitutes, changed its name to the American Female Guardian Society, and started distributing food and clothing to the needy. The certificate offered here confers lifetime membership on Miss Carissa Doolittle. Ms. Doolittle was sponsored by a Deacon J. C. Janes and his deceased wife, Mary H. Janes, who donated $20 to the Society.
Members of the society would frequently shelter destitute women and children in their homes to keep them off the streets. However, due to the large number of needy souls, in 1847 the society opened a “Home for the Friendless and House of Industry” on First Avenue until they could build their own facility on 30th Street. Two small inset illustrations appear to depict their main facilities during the early 1860s, the society being chartered in 1849. The House took in mothers with children, widows, unemployed young women, and orphaned children of both sexes. While residence was not intended to be permanent, the society's demand for space increasingly grew, which prompted them to build a new facility in the Bronx in 1901.



https://hdc.org/buildings/american-female-guardian-society/

http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/2000AmericanFemaleGuardianSociety.pdf

A RARE publication.

The WorldCat shows 3 copies of this book but more libraries have a digital copy. There are NO copies of this book for sale on any of the 22 vintage book selling sites.

There are a few other books currently for sale (that have different titles) that were published by American Female Guardian Society in the 1800's. See WorldCat links here for some other books published by them:



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