125 Years of Christodora

The Beginning

In 1897 Christina MacColl rented three rooms and half a basement at 163 Avenue B and there she founded a new, non-sectarian organization called the “Young Women’s Settlement.” The purpose of the settlement was to respond to the needs of young (mostly immigrant) women and girls who lived on the lower east side. A year later, the organization moved to a home of its own at 147 Avenue B. It began to admit boys and changed the name to “Christodora House.” Thus began one of the first settlement houses in New York City.

Image: George Bellow, The Cliff Dwellers (1913)

Who’s Who in Christodora History

Christina MacColl

Christina Isobel MacColl (December 1864 – 1939) was the founder of Christodora House. After graduating from the Emerson School of Oratory, she went to work for the Harlem YWCA. There she met Sarah Carson who became her lifelong partner in the effort to establish a social settlement in Lower Manhattan. The two women used their experience with the Y to enter into settlement work and eventually found the Young Women’s Settlement House in 1897, later renamed to Christodora in 1898. Christodora House and Miss MacColl became an integral part of the Lower East Side neighborhood and provided a wide variety of much-needed services for the people who lived there.

— Cited from VCU Library Social Welfares History Project, Christona Isobel MacColl, written by June Hopkins

Christodora House

Over the years Christodora grew, eventually becoming Christodora House — a 16 story skyscraper overlooking Tompkins Square. Christodora house was unusual in that it responded to two distinct, yet related, needs. The upper floors of the building provided inexpensive housing for male and female students. The principle was that the residents were to volunteer part of their time at the community center below. The lower floors of the building were alive with activity ranging from health services to swimming, art and drama, and numerous clubs for music and poetry. The Poets’ Guild of Christodora included such well-known poets as Robert Frost, Vachel Lindsay, and Edwin Arlington Robinson. They came together not for a literary purpose but to help tap the creative potential of children on the lower east side. Ira Gershwin, the famed lyricist, was one such child inspired by the Poet’s Guild.

The East Village's Christodora Settlement House: Community, Relationships, and Social Change is a wonderful illustrated lecture by Joyce Milambiling, based on the recently rediscovered letters that shed light on the overlooked story of a transformative social settlement house founded by two extraordinary young women in 1897. — recording from Lower East Side Preservation Initiative

Camp Northover

In addition to the skyscraper in the city, Christodora owned a 91-acre country home called Camp Northover in Bridgewater, New Jersey. It was donated in 1908 and operated by Christodora till 1981. Northover was one of the first decentralized camps in the United States. It provided tenement children with the opportunity to experience the fresh air and natural beauty of life in the country.

Read a blog article about the early days of Northover Camp.

(Are you a Camp Northover alum? Get it touch!)

Images:
Lincoln Dining Hall and Lodge, the main building at Camp Northover. Shown below is the original swimming pool.

Music lessons with young girl as conductor

Who’s Who in Christodora History

Harry Hopkins

Harry Lloyd Hopkins (August 17, 1890 – January 29, 1946) was an American statesman, public administrator, and presidential advisor. A trusted deputy to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hopkins directed New Deal relief programs before serving as the 8th United States Secretary of Commerce from 1938 to 1940 and as Roosevelt's chief foreign policy advisor and liaison to Allied leaders during World War II. During his career, Hopkins supervised the New York Temporary Emergency Relief Administration, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civil Works Administration, and the Works Progress Administration, which he built into the largest employer in the United States. He later oversaw the $50 billion Lend-Lease program of military aid to the Allies and, as Roosevelt's personal envoy, played a pivotal role in shaping the alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom. Hopkins got his start as a camp counselor at Christodora’s Camp Northover in 1912.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Manice Education Center

Today, Christodora maintains its historical connection with camping. Christodora owns the Manice Education Center, a residential environmental education and wilderness adventure facility in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains in northwest Massachusetts.

The Center, founded in 1981, serves inner-city youth in the spring, summer, and fall. Its primary function is to teach children about the environment and to grow as leaders.

(Did you go to the Manice Education Center? You’re an alum! Get in touch.)

125 Years of Milestones

1897

Christodora was founded by Christina Isobel MacColl and Sarah Libby Carson as a non-sectarian, educational institution to help immigrant women succeed in America.

1898

The organization was named Christodora, meaning “gift of love”. The board expanded the organization by purchasing a brownstone at 147 Avenue B to accommodate their programs. The house provided a space for community gathering and offered classes in vocational training, art, and music.

1908

Camp Northover opens in New Jersey to provide a summer refuge for outdoor education and recreation.

1912

Harry Hopkins joins Camp Northover as a camp counselor, and later joined the Christodora House as a resident and worker.

In City Classrooms,
In City Parks
…and beyond

Although Christodora does not reside at Christodora House any more, our spirit endures! We continue to grow and evolve, reaching students in New York City classrooms through our Winter Ecology Program (WEP). Launched in 2001, this program invites environmental educators bring their “mountain man/woman” energy into the classroom through a 7-week curriculum ecology curriculum.

Christodora’s “ecosystem of programs” ensures that once students’ interest is sparked, they can remain connected throughout the year, including as part of our New Youth Conservationists (NYC) urban ecology programs. Founded in 2003, this program is based on weekends at Bronx parks, where students engage in stewardship activities.

Christodora Alumni

Students who participate in our programs are Christodora Alum! Generations of students and families have been a part of our programs, with many alums going into careers in public service, education, and the environment. Engaging and connecting more with our alums is part of our strategic vision for the future. If you are an alum, please get in touch. Our alums help keep the Christodora spirit bright and our organization moving forward.

ONWARD

In September 2022 we kicked-off our 125th year celebration at our annual gala, the Christodora Campfire. The theme was ONWARD, as we look towards our next 125 years of service.

Christodora Hymn
(approx. 1908)

On our way still onward, the world is yet young,
With beauty that never was dreamed of or sung.
For eyes that can see them, her wonders unfold;
The heart that looks forward will never grow old.
Look forward, move Onward!

The new work to do
Will strengthen our sinews, create life anew.
The splendor that beckons is life, it is youth– The
sweetness of hope and the freshness of truth.