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Artifact: Scientific Philanthropy and The Social Gospel

Related Course: PHST-P301 Historical Contexts for and Contemporary Approaches to Philanthropy
Date of Course: Fall 2015
Instructor: Professor Hatcher
Related Student Learning Outcome: #3 Understanding the role of nonprofit organizations in society

Alexis Davenport
PHIL-P301
Professor Hatcher
October 24th, 2015
Scientific Philanthropy and The Social Gospel

American society was developing as a major power during the early twentieth-century

entirely transforming itself through the creation of immense wealth, widespread urbanization and

innovative industrialization. Although these changes created remarkable wealth for individuals

such as Andrew Carnegie, there was also an extensive struggle occurring within the less

fortunate communities. Specifically, rural families as well as those in seemingly prosperous

industrial states faced challenges that made simply surviving a struggle within itself. Through

Scientific Philanthropy and The Social Gospel movement, beliefs of social darwinism and the

idea of only aiding to right-minded people were counteracted providing relief to those less

fortunate and being agents for change in the early twentieth-century (Sealander, p. 229).

Scientific Philanthropy was innovative action that focused on reevaluating charity and

its responses to issues within society in a systematic approach. Zealander states that

philanthropy should seek causes and cures as well as find a remedy for a disease, rather than

build a hospital to treat its victims (Sealander, p. 220, 221). Many individuals that partook in

Scientific Philanthropy believed that a wholesale approach was most effective and thus led to

the creation of more systematic approaches to charity, such as foundations (Sealander, p. 221). It

was argued that if business expanded, so too should the scale of giving and wholesale giving

was believed to be the solution (Sealander, p. 222). Additionally, there were two motivations of

Scientific Philanthropy, one in God, the other in system (Sealander, p. 226).

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The Social Gospel movement was a virtue that applied christian motivations and beliefs

to confront problems occurring within society. The Social Gospel movement promoted a belief

that people should strive for a higher standard and care for those less fortunate and actively

combat societys problems through mirroring ethics of religion (Sealander, p. 226).

Consequently, individuals began to embrace their moral duty and started to devote substantial

effort to finding solutions to the problems that were occurring in society. Walter Rauschenbush

illustrated that The Social Gospel movement wanted to overcome the idea that social

machinery is almost as blindly cruel as its steel machinery, and that it runs over the life of a poor

man scarcely with a quiver (Sealander, p. 227).

The settlement house movement is the most clear correlation between Scientific

Philanthropy and The Social Gospel. Sealander states that settlement houses were the brick

and stone embodiment of The Social Gospel (Sealander, p. 227). Settlements voluntarily

offered a wide variety of programs to those living in urban slums and provided opportunities for

struggling individuals to improve their lives. This systematic approach that aimed to solve

problems within the community was the heart of what Scientific Philanthropy was all about. In

contrast, millionaires such as Rockefeller were motivated mostly by system remaining barely

influenced by The Social Gospel movement. Indeed, Scientific Philanthropy and The Social

Gospel Movement were utilized in different ways.

Overall, I believe that this chapter was beneficial to my understanding of what was on the

mind of wealthy individuals at the turn of the century. It is interesting to see how long it took for

individuals to seek a new, more successful way of giving. The idea of a wholesale approach

was truly a turning point. Although philanthropy has changed definitions throughout history, I
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feel that the definition is always fitting for its time. I believe that we will find that the approaches

that we are utilizing now will develop even more as philanthropy continues to transform.

References

Sealander, J. (2003). Curing Evils at Their Source: The Arrival Of Scientific Giving. In L.
Friedman & M. McGarvie (Eds.), Charity, philanthropy, and civility in American history
(pp. 129-159). London, England: Cambridge University Press.