Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Northeast Iowa
of Northeast Iowa
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Big Brothers Big Sisters' History
Big Brothers Big Sisters was founded in 1903 by Irvin F
Westheimer, a young man from Cincinnati. Westheimer
introduced himself to a young boy who was rummaging
through a dumpster for food. Westheimer took the
young boy out for lunch and later to a ball game. As
time passed Westheimer and the boy grew to be close
friends. Westheimer then encouraged his adult friends
to do the same, in response to the increasing juvenile
delinquency problem. The name was coined by a boy
who referred to his adult friend as “my big brother.”
The program began to grow quickly, as it’s methods
were simple and easy to implement. By 1910 the Big
Brothers of America agency was established
in Cincinnati. Responsible adult volunteers were
matched one-to-one with troubled children to provide
friendship and it worked!
Shortly after, Ernest Coulter was credited for
establishing the New York based movement. Coulter
witnessed thousands of children passing through the
court system, as he worked as a clerk of the court. He
was empathetic to their struggles and approached the
Men’s Club of the Central Presbyterian Church of New
York. He described the children he saw each day and
proposed that the men befriend the children. By the
end of the meeting, forty men wanted to volunteer.
And what about Big Sisters? The Ladies of Charity
were doing similar work in New York. They were
founded by Mrs. John O’Keefe and decided to change
their name to the Catholic Big Sisters. Not much later,
the Big Sisters program was running in Milwaukee. It
became one of the fastest growing programs in the
nation and served over 500 girls.
Similar organizations quickly sprouted up across the
nation. In 1912, the New York Times reported over
twenty-five programs across America. Just five
years later that number had almost quadrupled! This
incredible growth has been attributed to the enormous
gap between the rich and the poor. Extreme poverty
consumed the lives of millions of children. Yet, America’
s leading families (Rockefeller, Carnegie) were
surrounded by wealth. Those in the middle decided to
take responsibility for the economic injustice and chose
progressive reform to create change.
Today, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America serves
hundreds of thousands of
children in 5,000 communities across the country. It is
the largest mentoring
program in the nation. Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America has been
successful at creating and nurturing friendships
between children and adults
for almost 100 years. The official Big Brothers Big
Sisters of America
Headquarters are located in Philadelphia, PA. Big
Brothers Big Sisters
of America anticipate serving one million children by
2010.
Big Brothers Big Sisters was founded in 1903 by Irvin F
Westheimer, a young man from Cincinnati. Westheimer
introduced himself to a young boy who was rummaging
through a dumpster for food. Westheimer took the
young boy out for lunch and later to a ball game. As
time passed Westheimer and the boy grew to be close
friends. Westheimer then encouraged his adult friends
to do the same, in response to the increasing juvenile
delinquency problem. The name was coined by a boy
who referred to his adult friend as “my big brother.”
The program began to grow quickly, as it’s methods
were simple and easy to implement. By 1910 the Big
Brothers of America agency was established
in Cincinnati. Responsible adult volunteers were
matched one-to-one with troubled children to provide
friendship and it worked!
Shortly after, Ernest Coulter was credited for
establishing the New York based movement. Coulter
witnessed thousands of children passing through the
court system, as he worked as a clerk of the court. He
was empathetic to their struggles and approached the
Men’s Club of the Central Presbyterian Church of New
York. He described the children he saw each day and
proposed that the men befriend the children. By the
end of the meeting, forty men wanted to volunteer.
And what about Big Sisters? The Ladies of Charity
were doing similar work in New York. They were
founded by Mrs. John O’Keefe and decided to change
their name to the Catholic Big Sisters. Not much later,
the Big Sisters program was running in Milwaukee. It
became one of the fastest growing programs in the
nation and served over 500 girls.
Similar organizations quickly sprouted up across the
nation. In 1912, the New York Times reported over
twenty-five programs across America. Just five
years later that number had almost quadrupled! This
incredible growth has been attributed to the enormous
gap between the rich and the poor. Extreme poverty
consumed the lives of millions of children. Yet, America’
s leading families (Rockefeller, Carnegie) were
surrounded by wealth. Those in the middle decided to
take responsibility for the economic injustice and chose
progressive reform to create change.
Today, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America serves
hundreds of thousands of
children in 5,000 communities across the country. It is
the largest mentoring
program in the nation. Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America has been
successful at creating and nurturing friendships
between children and adults
for almost 100 years. The official Big Brothers Big
Sisters of America
Headquarters are located in Philadelphia, PA. Big
Brothers Big Sisters
of America anticipate serving one million children by
2010.
