Title: The Lend A Hand Society records, 1843-1982 [finding guide]
Description: "The Lend A Hand Society (LHS), a private charity in Boston, grew out of the response to a short story called Ten Times One is Ten," written in 1870 by Edward Everett Hale ... Following the publication of the story, groups sprang up to follow its example ... At first Hale's publishing office served as LHS headquarters, becoming a clearinghouse for letters from individuals responding to EEH's writings. By 1891 the volume of corresponding and publishing work had grown so large that the Ten Times One Corporation was formed in that year to function as a central headquarters for the individual clubs. The name was changed to The Lend a Hand Society in 1898. ... [O]ther names chosen by clubs included Harry Wadsworth Clubs, Look-Up Legions, and King's Daughters.

"... The work undertaken ... varied in scope from operating the Noon-Day Rest, a lunchroom for working women that existed in Boston from 1893-1899, to what later became the most sizeable segment of the LHS's work, sending books to schools and libraries in the rural South. Sarah Brigham founded the Book Mission in 1890 ... [I]n 1911 ... Anna E. Wood, took over the work. ... The Boston Floating Hospital was founded by the Reverend Rufus Tobey in 1894 to relieve the suffering of sick children in the hot city ... [It] was a department of LHS from 1896-1901 ... LHS contributed to the medical missionary work of Dr. Wilfred Grenfell and the Grenfell Association in Labrador and Newfoundland ... LHS worked predominately through other relief agencies ... Vacations and convalescent care were provided for men, women and children ..."--P. 1-3.

Other projects include: Loyal Helper Scholarship Loans, camp grants, outings, the Frances Hathaway Kimball Fund for Tired Mothers, wheelchair loans, Boer prisoners in Bermuda, and World War I relief. The manuscript collection also contains correspondence of Edward Everett Hale, Frederic William Greenleaf, and Edward Hale Greenleaf as well as records of the Welcoming and Correspondence Club and other material related to the South Congregational Church.
Subjects: Charities, Lend a Hand Society, South Congregational Church (Boston, Mass.), South Congregational Church (Boston, Mass.). Welcome and Correspondence Club
Places: Massachusetts, Boston, Boston (Mass.)
People: E. H. Greenleaf, Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909), Sarah Brigham, Anna E. Wood, Frederic William Greenleaf