Maude E. Miner Hadden (1880–1967) was a pioneer in the field of

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

and an activist in the anti-prostitution movement. She was the first woman probation officer of the

Magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

in New York City, and the co-founder of Waverly House for Girls, the Girls Service League, the Committee on Protective Work for Girls, the

Institute of World Affairs The Institute of World Affairs (IWA) was founded 1924 in Geneva, Switzerland by Maude Miner Hadden and Alexander Mectier Hadden. The IWA started at the Student’s International Union (SIU) in Geneva. The SIU had been established at the League o ...

, and the Palm Beach Round Table.

Early life

Maude Miner Hadden was born in

Leyden, Massachusetts Leyden is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 734 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metropolitan area, Massachuset ...

in June 1880. She was the daughter of James R. and Mary E. (Newcomb) Miner. Maude graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

in 1901, and earned an

M. A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(1906) and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

(1917) from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She taught history and mathematics at

Hood College , motto_lang = la , mottoeng = With Heart and Mind and Hand , established = , type = Private college , religious_affiliation = United Church of Christ , endowment = $104.5 million (2020) , president = Andrea E. Chapd ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, from 1901 to 1906, before moving into

. Hadden's Ph.D. thesis, ''Slavery of Prostitution: A Plea for Emancipation'', was published as a book in 1916.

Social reform

Hadden was a pioneer in the field of social work, the first woman

probation officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

of the

in New York City where she served in the

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portray ...

from 1907 to 1909. She was also appointed a member of the

New York State Probation Commission New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

by the governor and served as secretary of the New York Protective and Probation Association starting in 1913. Through her work with young women in the courts, Miner came to believe in legal and education reform to end prostitution.

Waverly House

In 1908, Hadden and her sister, Stella Miner, opened Waverly House for Girls at 165 West 10th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Waverly House was a temporary home for young women, many of whom were runaways, who were released from the courts on probation. The staff of Waverly House helped the girls to return home or gain safe employment. The New York Probation Association was formed to help fund Waverly house. Donators included

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

and Mrs.

Russell Sage Russell Risley Sage (August 4, 1816 – July 22, 1906) was an American financier, railroad executive and Whig politician from New York. As a frequent partner of Jay Gould in various transactions, he amassed a fortune. Olivia Slocum Sage, his s ...

Girls' Service League

Hadden and Stella also founded the Girls Service League in 1908. The purpose of the Girls' Service League was, in Hadden's words, "to help needy girls through intensive personal contact and by bringing them together as a group into a homelike atmosphere". The League offered housing, guidance, vocational advice, work training, and educational opportunities. The Girls' Service League opened in Manhattan, then expanded to other New York locations. Hadden served as president of the Girls' Service League for 12 years.

Committee on Protective Work for Girls

After the United States entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Miner established the Committee on Protective Work for Girls (CPWG) to address the problem of

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

and

venereal disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral se ...

around military training camps. The

Chamberlain–Kahn Act The Chamberlain–Kahn Act of 1918 is a U.S. federal law passed on July 9, 1918, by the 65th United States Congress. The law implemented a public health program that came to be known as the American Plan, whose stated goal was to combat the spre ...

, passed in 1918, addressed the same problem, but with more repressive results. Under this law, women suspected to be prostitutes could be detained, inspected, and sent to a rehabilitation center if they were suspected of having a venereal disease. Eventually the interest in policing military camps increased, and the CPWG was placed under the War Department's Division of Law Enforcement. Miner resigned as director of the committee, and in a private letter she stated that the War Department was placing the well-being of soldiers over that of the women. Miner and other former members of the CPWG also criticized the Chamberlain–Kahn Act at a national conference on venereal disease in 1920, stating that it deprived women of their personal liberties, discriminated against women, and was ineffective in protecting society from venereal disease.

Marriage and international peace initiatives

In 1924, Miner married Alexander Mactier Hadden, grandson of

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

importer David Hadden. Together they founded and ran the

. After Alexander died in 1942, Maude continued this work.

Institute of World Affairs

The idea for an international students' union "dedicated to the promotion of international understanding and goodwill" came to the Haddens during a honeymoon layover in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, the headquarters of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. The Students International Union was founded in 1924 with 18 students from six countries. It quickly increased to more than 200 students, and the group moved to new quarters overlooking University Park, Geneva. In 1941, the Students International Union moved to

Salisbury, Connecticut Salisbury () is a town situated in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is the northwesternmost in the state of Connecticut; the Massachusetts-New York-Connecticut tri-state marker is located at the northwest corner of the town ...

, because of the dangers of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and changed its name to the

. It was located on 300 acres of farmland in northwestern Connecticut, near Twin Lakes. The Institute ran summer seminars in Connecticut every year from 1940 to 1993. As of 1967 (the year of Hadden's death), nearly 2,000 students from 87 countries had graduated from the program. In 1957, Hadden and the Institute were nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

Palm Beach Round Table

The Haddens founded the Palm Beach Round Table in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

in 1932. The Round Table began as casual meetings in private homes, and eventually moved to the

Everglades Club The Everglades Club is a social club in Palm Beach, Florida. When its construction began in July 1918, it was to be called the ''Touchstone Convalescent Club'', and it was intended to be a hospital for the wounded of World War I. But the war ended ...

. The Round Table sponsors an annual series of lectures on current affairs. Speakers at the Round Table have included Jonathan Wainwright,

John Mason Brown John Mason Brown (July 3, 1900 – March 16, 1969) was an American drama critic and author.Van Gelder, Lawrence (March 17, 1969). "John Mason Brown, Critic, Dead." ''The New York Times'' Life Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he graduated from Harva ...

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Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary romance, contemporary and historical romance novels, the lat ...

Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. Bradley ...

, James W. Fulbright,

Maria von Trapp Baroness Maria Augusta von Trapp DHS (; 26 January 1905 – 28 March 1987) was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. She wrote ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers'', which was published in 1949 and was the inspiratio ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

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Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

, and

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

. Hadden served as president from its founding to 1962. In 2021, the Round Table celebrated its 90th anniversary.

Later years and legacy

In addition to her publications on prostitution and world peace, Hadden was the author of two volumes of poetry, ''Garnet Rock'' and ''High Horizons'', and an autobiography, ''Quest for peace : personal and political''. Hadden died April 14, 1967 in

, and was buried in St. Thomas Cemetery,

, New York City.

Works

* ''Slavery of prostitution, a plea for emancipation'', New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916 * ''Quest for peace: personal and political'', Washington, D.C.: Farrar, 1968 * ''Garnet rock'', New York: Comet Press, 1944 * ''High horizons'', New York: Whittier Books, 1957 * "Probation work in the Magistrates' Courts of New York City", New York: New York Probation Association, 1909.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadden, Maude Miner 1880 births 1967 deaths Smith College alumni American social workers 20th-century American poets People from Leyden, Massachusetts 20th-century American women