In 1893, a young nurse from Rochester, NY named Lillian Wald met with Jacob Schiff—then one of America’s leading financiers and the most prominent figure in New York City’s Jewish community—to discuss a proposal for a charitable organization that would deliver home medical care and training in self-help to the impoverished immigrant residents of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Impressed by Wald, Schiff helped her found the Visiting Nurses Service, initiating three decades of cooperation in philanthropic endeavors that would revolutionize the provision of assistance to the urban poor. Susan Hertog writes:
Jacob Schiff, the Frankfurt-born son of a financier from a long line of rabbinic sages, was a Jewish aristocrat with the thirst for knowledge of a talmudic scholar. . . . [Herself born] into a family of German-Jewish entrepreneurs, [Wald] understood the landscape of [Schiff’s] mind. She knew that first and foremost, he was an investor with his eye on the bottom line, and this attitude permeated all of his philanthropic endeavors. An immigrant of her parents’ generation, Schiff saw his generosity toward Jewish charities and institutions as integral to his gratitude to America for his economic success. As a strictly observant Jew, he believed it was his duty to give 10 percent of his income to his community—amounting to a very generous total. . . .
Hitherto, [however], Schiff had contributed to charities and organizations from above, acting both as fundraiser and treasurer, antiseptically if good heartedly, using his financial skills and personal connections to foster the acculturation and settlement of immigrants, predominantly but not exclusively Jewish. . . .
In the wake of [several] miscarried efforts [to alleviate the suffering of immigrant Jews], Wald’s vision of home nursing seemed to get to the heart of the problem—a community-based institution devoted to the needs of immigrants. Wald’s plans were focused and tangible, and her youth and resolve moved Schiff. Perhaps most important, he sensed that he could supervise, instruct, and sway her in a way that suited him and would achieve their common ends. Wald was smart and ambitious, open, unspoiled, and willing to learn. While this may seem paternalistic [to modern sensibilities], one must remember that it was unheard of in his social circles for a man to partner with a woman [in this sort of endeavor]. But Lillian Wald was like no other woman Jacob Schiff had ever met.
Read more on Philanthropy Roundtable: http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/general/a_visionary_and_her_angel