A Public Charity: Religion and Social Welfare in Indianapolis, 1929–2002 by Mary L. Mapes (review)

strategies that the AfricanAmerican community in array of written sources, such as newspapers and Indianapolis employed to address racial discrimi- other contemporary periodic11%. nnu: 11 And topic: 11 nation in education, housing, employment, and reports from social service a, encies, and a variety politics. Lacking,however,is sufficient comparative of master's theses from Indiana University. evidence from other localities to show that African- The book unfolds chronologically beginning with American beliefs and strategies in Indianapolis were the 19305. During the New Deal,when public sounique to the city. The author has not convinced cial welfare increased sharply. religious agencies in this writer that " largescale public demonstrations" Indianapolis also increased their services. Catholic were out of character and potentially counter pro- Charities. for example, became the local host for ductive. Part of the problems lies in the brevity of federal programs such as the WPA. Despite such the study. A fuller and more comprehensive study expansion,Mapes thinks this history reflects the remight have revealed more agency on the part of luctance of city leaders to build i welfare state. The AfricanAmerican workers, churches, etc. Hope- city dispensed money to private nonprofits because fully,the author will fill the gaps in what is a most it wanted to keep its bureaucracy small and religious interesting and important case study. boundaries sharply drawn. Municipal leaders preferred that Catholic agencies care for their own Richard W. Thomas rather than that the city establish a public system Michigan State University that cared for 7]1. Mapes 7140 sees in this storb' a critique of conservative arguments today that public welfare undermines private care Mary L. Mapes. A Public Cbar- Religion a, 10 initiatives. In Indianapolis, both ity:Religion andSocialWelfare in A , . Social 11' 1* are 47 orew together. i, 1 Inclianapoli. 0, A b Indianapolis,19292002 . Bloom- ** lit*M 19292002 In the 19405 and 19505, relis glous nonprotsboth Protestant ington: Indiana University Press, -»'---2004 . 168 pp. ISBN: 0253344808 cloth), $ 37.50. a publ-ie ctia,it » and Catholicshifted their focus 3* from the poor to the middle class. &. 48 /' i *" »'< b' .0, Services were aimed to buttress om the New Deal through I**** 5«, fli»' "' ft'» ' the traditional family, especially Ftism," MaryMapesusesIn- @*** U=&* 1** F'1 thepoorgot fewerservices,often Compassionate Conserva- 3 .,»* *** -»* IWI*@ women's roles in the home. In turn, dianapolis as case study to explore because they could not adhere to religious involvement in the provi- -' .- .---# -' I . the middleclass norm of subsistsion of social welfare in America. 40*< 41 ,* 444 ing solely on male family members' Her core argument is that Ameri- Waly f. f®*incomes. During the 19605, the 5*{ i.{:, , LA] 81 War on Poverty shifted attention cans view social welfare as " public charity"rather than a " right of citizenship" ( 3). As back to the poor and toward a new view of wela result,the state often has relied on private insti- fare. African Americans, the poor,and their allies tutions, including religious ones,to deliver part of seized on Lyndon B. Johnson's appeal for maxithe nation's social services. Though public funds mum feasible participation ot community groups have been a boon to secular and religious nonprofits to demand that marginalized groups get a voice in since the 1930s,the private sphere alone has never how social welfare was conceived and executed in been able to develop an adequate system of care for the city. They understood that demand,along with those in need. To build her case, Mapes uses an providing basic social services,as rights of citizenSPRING 2006 81 BOOK REVIEWS ship. Religious lead- I t 4, ers, especially black :1 clergy, were central to the movement. By the 1970s, white i churches had beco »ne · 6 + :'' j '': similarly engaged,of 9 3 6 -, ,»-· = ir , , 1 # ten spurred to action 4 * + ' 4 by the white fl ght that transformed the r churches and im »ned -ate communities. Yet = i ,/ all of these effoits had limited success. Black leade s were ultimately unable to wrest control from the white establish Tie it in c ty hall,and white churches discovered that many social problems,such as affordable housing,were beyond their means and skill to address. The final chapter of Mapes's book explores the current emphasis on faithbased initiatives, pioneered by Indianapolis's mayor Stephen Goldsmith in the 19905 and expanded to the national level during George W. Bush's presidency. Mapes views these efforts as a means to privatize the delivery and responsibility of social welfare, concluding that they are yet another case of casting welfare as public charity. She doubts the churches will be able to shoulder the burden any better now than they have in the past, and worries that in subcontracting services the state is shirking its duty to monitor their effectiveness. A Public Charity is a timely and wellresearched monograph. Mapes develops a reasonable critique of religious nonprofits in the delivery of social services and rightly asks for a reconsideration of welfare as charity. Her book is welcomed for its contribution to the historical study of welfare as well as to present political debates. Michael SiderRose Chicago,Illinois Thomas Parrish,with a foreword by Thomas D. Clark. Restoring Sbakertown :Tbe Struggle to Save tbe Historic Sbaker Village of Pleasant Hill. Lexington:The University Press of Kentucky,2005. 214 pp. ISBN: 1 081312364X (cloth), $ 32.00. leasantHill,arestoredShakercommu nity from the midnineteenth century outside of Lexington, is one of the most compelling historical landscapes in the Ohio Valley. Once the ic, cation of a thriving community of successful farmers, stockmen, broom makers,and weavers,Pleasant Hill became a largely forgotten place by the Depression era and its magnificent stone and brick b,Idings became dilapidated barns, dwellings, and storerooms on either side of a twolane federal highway. Its [ atetwentieth century restoration is clearly one of the region's major historic preservati () n successes. Thomas Parrish traces the story of the village' s renewal and renovation,beginning in the late 1950s and continuing to the end of the century. Parrish reviews the contributions of several key individuals, such as Earl D. Wallace,James C. Thomas,James L. Coger,Joseph C. Graves,Lucy Graves,and Betty W. Morris,all of whom played important roles in the preservation of other Bluegrass landmarks. Of this group, Wallace is the most important because he brought commitment, professionalism, and an ability to identify ind solve the shortterm and longterm financial difficulties of the restoration. Wallace was the moneyman and the lasting lesson of Parrish's account for historic preservationists will be how restorations are powered by massive amounts of dollars. No matter how noble the vision , no matter how distinguished the members, without large amounts of money, restorations of largescale historical landscapes are doomed to struggle and often fail. Wallace's funding quest was successful because he looked everywhere for OHIO VALLEY HISTORY 82 ...