Pulpit statue of Vida Dutton Scudder by Ted Southwick

After the dedication of Emmanuel’s pulpit statue of Vida Dutton Scudder last month, we focus here on her relationship to Denison House, which was founded by the College Settlements Association in 1892. Managed by women, the house at 93 Tyler Street, a hub for social services and educational programs, welcomed emerging immigrant communities in Boston. The House’s first director was Emily Greene Balch (1867-1961), economist, sociologist, and winner of the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize. When Balch returned to teaching, Helena Dudley (1858-1932), labor and peace activist, and Vida Dutton Scudder (1861-1954), pacifist, educator, and Christian Socialist, became co-directors. Among her many notable achievements, Scudder helped to found the Episcopal Church Socialist League in 1911 and became chairperson of the Church League for Industrial Democracy (CLID). She was known for her conviction that philanthropy should be accompanied by social reform.

In the typescript “Early Days at Denison House,” Scudder reflected on its accomplishments over the forty-five years since its founding. Activities were full of joy: “Young college women were sharing the best that life had brought us”. While “labor troubles” and unemployment abounded early on, she asserted that “a zest for social reform glowed as steadily…as the welcoming fires” of the house. Scudder concluded this brief piece with:

Dubbed radical in many quarters, we went on our way undaunted; the early leaders of organized labor were our devoted and inspiring friends; a Federal Labor Movement meeting at the House and a study-circle concerned with economic problems to which sundry distinguished citizens belonged, are activities I like to remember….How conservative Boston reacted to our ardent centre of social thought and experiment is another story. There is no time to tell it here. But the young people connected with Denison House today are heirs of a fine tradition.*

–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin

*Records of Denison House, 1890-1984. Series I. HISTORY. “Early Days at Denison House” by Vida Scudder, 1937. (B-27, folder 1. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.) Digitized copy consulted.