Josephine Shaw Lowell

Biography

Josephine Shaw Lowell was a pioneering reformer who founded the New York Charity Organization Society and worked tirelessly to bring order and conscience to the care of the city's poorest residents. She believed in supporting the deserving poor with measured aid while also advocating for systemic improvements to housing, labor, and prison systems.

Her campaigns for fair treatment of veterans, immigrants, and women in the public sphere earned her wide respect, and her legacy lives on in organized charity efforts that seek both relief and justice.