 oddard
Riverside was formed in 1959 when two historic settlement houses
merged: Riverside Community House, founded in 1887, and Goddard
Neighborhood Center, founded in 1892. The agency’s roots extend
back to the beginning of the settlement house movement in the late
19th century. In 1884 the opening of the first settlement house,
London’s Toynbee Hall, marked a watershed in the history of
social services. It launched a new model of social work in which
workers “settled” in poor, urban areas to understand
the problems firsthand and to develop neighborhood-based services
that would alleviate them.
When Goddard Riverside’s two parent agencies merged, they
moved from their original locations to the heart of the West Side
Urban Renewal Area, the largest urban renewal area in the country
comprised of 20 square blocks running from West 87th Street to West
97th Street between Central Park West and Amsterdam Avenue. In addition
to starting a number of the programs and services still in operation
today, the center soon became deeply involved in the issues of affordable
housing that were central to the urban renewal process.
Before merging, both houses had rich records of service to New
York City. Goddard Neighborhood Center was previously located in
the East 30s, in the area now occupied by NYU Medical Center. Riverside
Community House served the lower part of the Upper West Side, in
the Lincoln Center area. A complex history of predecessor organizations
and later mergers began with the Wilson Industrial School for Girls
(founded 1855) and included the Riverside Day Nursery (1887), the
Friendly Aid Society (1892), Pioneer Youth of America (1926), Child
Study Association of America (1923) and Wel-Met Incorporated (1943).
For more detailed information on the history of Goddard Riverside,
go to the Goddard Riverside Community Center Archives
at Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
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