“Crippled Children’s Outing,” 1939 World’s Fair, with American Express reps

The original caption, on the backside of this photograph, reads “Grover Whalen’s office.(L to R) James Hayes (Amer Xpress) – Mrs. Sidney Borg, National Advisory Committee – Grover Walen – Thomas J. Love (Amer Xpress) Miss Elizabeth Addington, Welfare and Sid Roth (Amer Xpress). This photo made in connection with crippled children outing to Worlds Fair. Children – Crippled Children’s Outing – Grover Whalen, Elizabeth Addington (Welfare Dept. ) and American Express representatives in office”

Madeleine Borg was chairmain of the Welfare Department of the National Advisory Committee for the 1939-40 World’s Fair in New York City, and Grover Whalen was President of the World’s Fair Corporation. According to the finding aid for the New York Public Library’s collection, which contains a trove of documents and photographs from the 1939 World’s Fair, the Welfare Department:

“provided assistance to lost and stranded children and to mentally and physically disabled visitors, operated a housing service for employees, and coordinated accommodations for visitors through the Mayor’s Housing Bureau. The department was also responsible for handling cases related to inebriated adults, delinquent minors, and prostitutes operating on the Fairgrounds, which were often referred to various area social service agencies. The office was staffed by social workers and a squad of policewomen who identified unsafe labor practices, assisted on cases related to minors, and who, in conjunction with the Amusement Control Committee, monitored areas of the Fairgrounds considered hazardous or unsavory. In addition, the unit distributed information promoting awareness of social work as a career and publicizing the Fair’s welfare and health-related exhibits. Working with the National Youth Administration, the department produced a series of vocational pamphlets and arranged visits to the exhibits of various industry sectors for young adults… In documenting departmental activities, these records evidence the social service culture of the day, the highly developed social welfare system operating in the New York metropolitan area, and offer a glimpse into daily life on the Fairgrounds and into the broader social environment of the period.”

From Finding Aid for New York World’s Fair 1939 and 1940 Incorporated records, 1935-1945 (MssCol 2233). Compiled by Jessica Weglein, Wendy Scheir, Jill Peterson, Susan Malsbury, and Michelle Schwartz, 2008

Link: https://archives.nypl.org/mss/2233