Past and Present: Soc. Prevention of Cruelty to Children

A Look at Brooklyn, then and now.

It’s a rather awful indictment against our culture that there needs to be a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and on the other hand, it’s a wonderful thing that people saw the need for such an organization, and took action.

The SPCC was founded in Manhattan in 1874 by Henry Bergh, the American founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. His attorney, Thomas Gerry, and Quaker philanthropist John D. Wright rounded out the founding members. A churchwoman named Etta Weaver had approached Bergh, imploring him to rescue a child who was being mistreated and beaten by her step-mother. She had come to the animal rescue organization after being turned down by other charities, including some for children. She wondered how there could be such an organization for mistreated animals, and not one for children. Bergh agreed, and put the wheels in motion to organize the group.

Almost immediately, the Society became part of the legal system in New York, advocating for fair treatment of minors. They sought to remove children from abusive and exploitive adults, including parents, and worked to strengthen children’s rights in the workplace and in the legal system. They limited the age of child employment, advocated for a 60 hour workweek for child employees, and sought rights for messengers and newsboys.

The Brooklyn branch of the Society was founded in 1880, meeting at the Society’s headquarters at 199 Montague Street, in the Brooklyn Library building. By 1882, they had arranged with the police department to intercede for children arrested for crimes, in order to keep them out of a jail cell. They realized this job would necessitate much larger headquarters and a building where temporary shelter and refuge could be set up.

By 1889, they had moved down the street to 141 Montague Street, and later, to 105 Schermerhorn, near Boerum Place. On April 12, 1896, the Brooklyn Eagle announced that the Society’s old building would be torn down, and a new building would rise in its place. This handsome structure would house not only the organization’s offices and meeting rooms, but would also house a number of needy children of all ages.

The building was designed by Montrose Morris, who won the design competition sponsored by the Society. Many of Brooklyn’s other great architects had submitted plans. The building was in the Italian Renaissance Revival Style, and had typical Montrose Morris design features for this period of his career, with Classical pilasters and columns, and richly carved limestone. He designed a spacious roof garden playground, and the building had three floors of dormitory space, divided by age and sex, as well as an infirmary, a library, kitchen and dining room, laundry and servants rooms.

Today, the site of the building is taken up by the enormous Metropolitan Transportation Authority Headquarters. That building, which takes up the entire square block, was designed in 1989 by Murphy/Jahn. I don’t know exactly when the Montrose Morris building, and the rest of the block was torn down, but the whole block disappeared for the MTA building, and now is not even a memory. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children lives on, with offices on Jay Street in Brooklyn, and New York headquarters on William Street in Lower Manhattan. GMAP