Saving Wednesday's Child

In February 1892, Alfred Clay mobilized an army of progressive-mindedcitizens of New Orleans to wage "war against all the enemies of little children." Patterned after child-advocacy movements in England and thenortheastern United States the group incorporated as The Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC), and saved thousands ofchildren from poverty, abuse, and delinquency. The work took the organization's staff into dismal shanties, overcrowded tenements, exploitiveoyster canneries and cotton mills, and sad drug cribs of Storyville. Among the LSPCC's many success stories was Louis Armstrong, who thrived at thewaif's home the society operated. Today the organization remains committed to children and operates under the names of the Children's Bureau of New Orleans.