Fruit and Flower Mission

Last updated

Fruit and Flower Mission
Portland Historic Landmark [1]
Fruit and Flower Mission (now Helen Gordon Child Development Center) in Portland Oregon 2018.jpg
East façade in 2018. The building now serves as the Helen Gordon Child Development Center on the campus of Portland State University.
Downtown Portland.png
Red pog.svg
USA Oregon location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1609 SW 12th Avenue
Portland, Oregon
Coordinates 45°30′52″N122°41′16″W / 45.514466°N 122.687827°W / 45.514466; -122.687827
Built1928
Architect Sutton & Whitney, Frederick A. Fritsch
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Georgian Revival
NRHP reference No. 86001225 [2]
Added to NRHPJune 5, 1986

The Fruit and Flower Mission, located in the West End area of downtown Portland, Oregon, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [3]

Contents

Background

In 1865, after the Civil War, the Pittsburgh Fruit and Flower Mission was started when members of the United States Sanitary Commission would visit wounded Union and Confederate soldiers passing through Pittsburgh or in local hospitals, bringing them books, home-grown flowers, and fruit. [4]

By May 1886, the Flower and Fruit Mission of San Francisco was taking flowers and fruit to the sick in the hospitals and the sick poor in their homes, every Thursday. [5]

In 1869, Boston Flower and Fruit Mission, Hollis St. Chapel by Committee of 12 ladies. [6]

In 1870, Shawmut Fruit and Flower Mission, by Shawmut Universalist Church, to the South End, Boston. [6]

In 1892, in Boston, flower distribution was made through an Association of Mutual Helpers. [7]

In 1892, Lizzie Borden was a member of the Central Congregational Church, serving as the Secretary to the Fruit and Flower Mission, and treasurer to the Fall River, Massachusetts Young Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. [8]

In 1904, the Flower and Fruit Mission of Saratoga Hospital, Saratoga Springs, NY was founded. Members sewed blankets, caps, and clothing for the infants, provided flowers and fruit for new mothers, and made jars of jam for hospital meals and fundraisers. [9]

In 1907, a long-running campaign called the Benevolent Fraternity Fruit and Flower Mission of Boston, was taken over by the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches, [10] at Horticultural Hall (Boston).

In 1907, the Flower and Fruit Mission of Seattle (which became the first Circle of the Overlake Service League in 1913 [11] ) was formed in 1907 by Othilia Carroll Beals and other women who met at the home of Mrs. Park Weed Willis, [12] [13] which, in 1935, became the Seattle Milk Fund. [14]

See also

References

  1. Portland Historic Landmarks Commission (July 2010), Historic Landmarks -- Portland, Oregon (XLS), retrieved November 5, 2013.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  4. "Fruit and Flower Mission Fund". pittsburghfoundation.org | The Pittsburgh Foundation. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  5. "The Fruit and Flower Mission". Pacific Rural Press . May 15, 1886. Retrieved July 3, 2025. , Volume 31, Number 20,
  6. 1 2 A directory of the charitable and beneficent organizations of Boston
  7. "Woods, Robert Archey". Social Welfare History Project. October 4, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  8. "Collection: Woman's Christian Temperance Union records". archive.grpl.org | Grand Rapids History Center. Retrieved July 3, 2025. A Young Woman's Christian Temperance Union was established, where young women members from Grand Rapids would reach out to others their age who did not attend church.
  9. "Flower and Fruit Mission". saratogahospitalfoundation.org - Saratoga Hospital Foundation. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  10. "Guide to the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches (Boston, Mass.) records, 1834-1997". beatleyweb.simmons.edu. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  11. "History of Hunts Point". huntspoint-wa.gov.
  12. "Fruit and Flower Mission Cookbook, 1930". Museum of History & Industry . Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  13. "Fruit and flower mission of Seattle". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu | The Online Books Page. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  14. "Seattle Milk Fund pours effort into community". Puget Sound Business Journal. Archived from the original on March 26, 2004. Retrieved July 3, 2025.

Further reading