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42 During the second half of the nineteenth and continuing into the early years of the twentieth century, organizations whose goal was either to serve people with disabilities or to prevent disability or both prospered, grew, and proliferated. Religious institutions supported some of these organizations, but charities increasingly turned to fund-raising. At first, they relied primarily on gifts from the well-to-do, but as the middle class grew, charities launched widespread campaigns designed to appeal to the general public.1 In this chapter, I look at how disability-related organizations used photography in these fund-raising drives. Charity campaigns featuring disability became so ubiquitous as the twentieth century progressed that it is impossible to cover the variety and extent of the publicity that was produced. Many charities became national organizations with branches across the country. Each branch participated in both the national and local fund-raising campaigns for their own chapter. In most cases, a percentage of what the branch raised went to the national organization, and the rest remained with the local. Some charities were affiliated with a local group that had no national organization, and there were regional charity organizations. Masonic organizations such as the Shriners and the Elks focused on children with disabilities and engaged in rigorous fund-raising, too. Further enlarging the fund-raising pool were organizations such as the Community Chest that were established to coordinate services and 1. Some of the earliest charity fund-raising involved providing for Civil War soldiers who were injured during the war. In 1917, giving was sanctioned by the US government, when charitable gifts were made a tax deduction. For a general history of philanthropy in the United States, see Bremner 1988. 4 Charity The Poster Child and Others 4.1. Kenny Foundation poster child, ca. 1947. Printed postcard. Charity  43 fund-raising in communities across the country.2 The Community Chest, later called the United Way, was effective in tapping funds from corporations and in getting corporations to sponsor fundraising among their employees with the offer of matching funds. By 1948, one thousand communities had United Way–type organizations. With the growth of advertising agencies, charity organizations increasingly relied on marketing companies to design their appeals. Year-round fund-raising was typical, but certain charities concentrated their efforts at particular seasons of the year. The National Lung Association Drive begun in 1907 and keyed its drive around the Christmas holiday season and the sale of Christmas Seals. The March of Dimes major fund drive was during the month of January to coincide with the birth date of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, founder of the organization. Labor Day weekend became the time for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon.3 Charity Imagery Begging versus Fund-Raising The images used in early disability charity fundraising were similar to those employed in begging 2. The United Way had its beginnings in 1887 in Denver , Colorado, where church leaders began the Charity Organization Society, which coordinated services and fundraising for twenty-two agencies. The first Community Chest was founded in 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio, and that organization served as a model for “federated giving.” The number of Community Chest organizations in the United States increased from 39 to 353 between 1919 and 1929 and had surpassed 1,000 by 1948. By 1963, the name “United Way” was adopted, but not everyone chose to use it. In 1970, the organization was renamed the United Way of America. In 2007, United Way of America was the largest charity in the United States, with 1,285 local branches reporting more than $4.2 billion in contributions, a 2.2 percent increase over 2006. 3. The Muscular Dystrophy Association campaign originated in the 1950s, but it did not become a national phenomenon until 1966. cards. Both featured real people, individuals to whom potential donors could relate. Many charity campaigns employed pity as their major draw. Some were heavily laced with religious themes. The similarities can be seen in the 1909 fundraising postcard shown in illustration 4.2, produced and distributed by the Good Shepherd’s Home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as part of its campaign to support a residential facility for “crippled orphans.” It features two well-dressed boys using crutches. The message on the card emphasizes that the crippled children served are the neediest , yet they are the very ones other orphanages turn away. They are “too much trouble” for other facilities “to take care of and exercise.” The text makes its appeal by evoking the...

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