JP Friendly Society Ledgers – Help Needed
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>  The Jamaica Plain Friendly Society was a public charity incorporated
> in 1901 which had offices on the 2nd floor of Curtis Hall. The Society
> provided relief to the poor by providing work sewing garments at home.
> The Society also made payments to households experiencing illness or
> distress to allow them to purchase food, fuel, clothing, and to pay
> their light bills. Its mission was, “To relieve temporary distress and
> befriend the need, without regard to age, sex, color, creed or
> nationality”.  In its annual report for the year ending in 1921, the
> Society reported that it aided 144 families by dispensing
> $3,395.00 (worth more than $44,000 in 2014 dollars). The Society
> counted among its board members Reverend Charles Dole and Dr. George
> Faulkner. The Society was the only civic group in JP,  and perhaps one
> of the few in metropolitan Boston, to contain almost equal numbers of
> men and women. Women served as officers and members of the executive
> committee. The JP Historical Society was recently lucky to receive a
> donation of the ledgers of the Friendly Society covering the years
> 1889-901. In collaboration with our friends at the Boston Public
> Library (thank you Tom and Danielle), we have recently scanned the
> volume and made it available on-line. However, we have not had the
> opportunity to carefully read the ledger and we suspect there might be
> any number of interesting stories embedded within its pages. We are
> looking for one or more volunteers to read through the volume and
> write a report or articles related to the contents. If you are willing to help, respond via the “Contact Us” link on the jphs.org web site. You can view a scanned image of the ledger at:
> http://tinyurl.com/osva76s