Cornelia Foster Bradford

By Annabelle Sebastian

Image courtesy of the New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, NJ

Cornelia Foster Bradford (1847-1935) established the Whittier House, the first settlement house in New Jersey and a Jersey City social establishment, in 1894.

Bradford spent three years in Chester, New Jersey, and witnessed how the Industrial Revolution combined with a mining boom impacted the local communities there. For the next 20 years, Bradford began searching for ways to make an impact, traveling throughout Europe, giving lectures on history, literature, and travel. While in England, Bradford visited Toynbee Hall, a settlement house established by Oxford University students who were determined to help the poor. 

Upon returning to the United States, Bradford became friends with Jane Addams, the founder of the Hull House in Chicago, the first settlement house in the United States. Bradford founded her own settlement house, the Whittier House, in 1894. The Whittier House provided many services to its residents, including the city’s first free Kindergarten program, a variety of other classes, legal aid, health facilities, and the first women’s club in Jersey City. The Whittier House attracted many immigrants to the area, and soon the immigrant population outnumbered those who were born there.

The community surrounding the Whittier House also aided Bradford in social reforms. Bradford helped Juliet Clannon Cushing found the Consumers’ League of New Jersey, which pushed for child labor laws and the formation of the Child Protective League. The Whittier House residents also helped with the formation of a state tenement housing code, and sponsored reform groups such as the Hudson County Tuberculosis Association and the North American Civic League.

Bradford was honored for her accomplishments at the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the Whittier House, and was awarded an honorary M.A. from Douglass College in 1923.

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References:

Burstyn, Joan N. 1990. “Cornelia Foster Bradford”. Past and Promise, Lives of New Jersey Women. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54486202

James, Edward T., Janet Wilson James, and Paul S. Boyer. 1971. Notable American women, 1607-1950: a biographical dictionary. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/221275644  

Lurie, Maxine N., and Marc Mappen. Encyclopedia of New Jersey. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.rowan.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=124913&site=ehost-live.

Suggested Citation:

Sebastian, Annabelle. “Cornelia Foster Bradford.” New Jersey Women’s History, Rowan University Libraries, 2024. https://njwomenshistory.org/biographies/cornelia-foster-bradford/.