The Russell Sage Foundation and the Pittsburgh Survey
The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) was a philanthropic organization that funded research efforts to analyze social problems and campaigned for reform initiatives to solve the very social problems that it studied. Russell Sage (1815-1906) was a wealthy financial speculator from New York who amassed a huge fortune through his ownership of several Western railroads and the Western Union Telegraph Company. After his death, his widow, Margaret Sage (1828-1918), established the RSF in New York City in 1907, which she launched with a generous gift of $35 million. In her husband's honor, Margaret also founded Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, in 1916. From 1907 to 1947, the RSF focused on exposing social problems through studying labor and industrial relations, child welfare, and public welfare.
Shortly after the RSF was founded, it funded a pioneering investigation of Pittsburg to examine the civic and industrial needs of the people. Pittsburgh, the largest U.S. producer of steel and iron at the time, was experiencing rapid industrial growth and massive immigration, making it the perfect place for the RSF to study the social problems afflicting a flourishing industrial center. The survey was organized by Paul Underwood Kellogg and employed over fifty social science researchers. Under Kellogg's direction, the investigators documented the working and living conditions of Pittsburgh steel workers and the social challenges facing their community, including child labor, work-accidents, inadequate sanitation, poor living conditions, and the assimilation of diverse immigrant groups. The survey also employed photographer Lewis Hine, whose pictures of the daily lives of Pittsburgh steel workers showed the world what it was really like to be a working-class steel worker.
The Pittsburgh Survey was one of the first sociological projects in the United States to combine scholarly social research with the political activism characteristic of the Progressive Era. The findings of the Pittsburgh Survey were used by social activists to lobby for much-needed political reforms, such as abolishing child labor, improving public health, and instituting better city planning. For the next half-century, the RSF would continue to commission numerous studies to study and solve social problems, until budget problems in the late 1940s caused it to reduce the number of studies like the Pittsburgh Survey. Today, the Russell Sage Foundation studies a wide variety of important issues for American society, including race relations, immigration, and the future of the American economy.
OCP Resources
The Pittsburgh Survey
The Pittsburgh Survey: Volume 1. Elizabeth Beardsley Butler. Women and the trades: Pittsburgh, 1907-1908. Edited by Paul Underwood Kellogg. New York: Charities Publication Committee, 1909.
The Pittsburgh Survey: Volume 2. Crystal Eastman. Work-accidents and the law. Edited by Paul Underwood Kellogg. New York: Publications Committee, 1910.
The Pittsburgh Survey: Volume 3. John Andrews Fitch. The steel workers. Edited by Paul Underwood Kellogg. New York: Publications Committee, 1910.
The Pittsburgh Survey: Volume 4. Margaret Frances Byington. Homestead: the housefolds of a mill town. Edited by Paul Underwood Kellogg. New York: Publications Committee, 1910.
The Pittsburgh Survey: Volume 5. The Pittsburgh district civil frontage. Edited by Paul Underwood Kellogg. New York: Survey Associates, 1914.
The Pittsburgh Survey: Volume 6. Wage-earning Pittsburgh. Edited by Paul Underwood Kellogg. New York: Survey Associates, 1914.
PhotographsPhotographs from the Pittsburgh Survey can be found in the Social Museum Collection at the Fog Art Museum.
View photographs from the Pittsburgh Survey
Other Russell Sage Foundation Publications
Richmond, Mary Ellen. The good neighbor in the modern city. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1908.
Hart, Hastings. Cottage and congregate institutions for children. New York: Charities Publication Committee, 1910.
Veiller, Lawrence. Housing reform: a hand-book for practical use in American cities. New York: Charities Publication Committee, 1910.
Veiller, Lawrence. A model tenement house law. New York: Charities Publication Committee, 1910.
Handbook of settlements. Eds. Robert A. Woods and Albert J. Kennedy. New York: Charities Publication Committee, 1911.
Butler, Elizabeth Beardsley. Saleswomen in mercantile stores, Baltimore, 1909. New York: Survey Associates, 1912.
Cannon, Ida. Social work in hospitals: a contribution to progressive medicine. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1913.
Richmond, Mary Ellen. A study of nine hundred and eighty-five widows known to certain charity organization societies in 1910. New York: Charity Organization Dep. of the Russell Sage Foundation, 1913.
Van Kleeck, Mary. Artificial flower makers. New York: Survey Associates, 1913.
Van Kleeck, Mary. Women in the bookbinding trade. New York: Survey Associates, 1913.
Anthony, Katharine. Mothers who must earn. New York: Survey Associates, 1914.
Cartwright, Otho. The middle West Side: a historical sketch. New York: Survey Associates, 1914.
Ihlder, John. Housing in Springfield, Illinois: a study by the National Housing Association. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1914.
Van Kleeck, Mary. Working girls in evening schools: a statistical study. New York: Survey Associates, Inc., 1914.
Slingerland, William Henry. Child welfare work in Pennsylvania: a co-operative study of child-helping agencies and institutions. New York: Department of child-helping, Russell Sage Foundation, 1915.
Slingerland, William Henry. Child welfare work in California: a study of agencies and institutions. New York: Dep. of child-helping, Russell Sage Foundation, 1915.
Odencrantz, Louise C. Industrial conditions in Springfield, Illinois: a survey / by the Committee on Women's Work and the Department of Surveys and Exhibits. New York: Dept. of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation, 1916.
Hewes, Amy. Women as munition makers: a study of conditions in Bridgeport, Connecticut. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1917.
Richmond, Mary Ellen. Social Diagnosis. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1917.
Ayres, Leonard. The public schools of Springfield, Illinois: a survey / by the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation under the direction of Leonard P. Ayres. [n.p., n.d.].
Decker, D.O. City and county administration in Springfield, Illinois: a survey / by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. [n.p., 1918].
Hanmer, Lee F. Recreation in Springfield, Illinois: a survey by the Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation. [n.p., 1918].
McLean, Francis H. The charities of Springfield, Illinois: a survey under the direction of the American Association of Societies for Organizing Charity. [n.p., 1918].
Potter, Zenas. The correctional system of Springfield, Illinois: a survey / by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. [n.p., 1918].
Schneider, Franz. Public health in Springfield, Illinois: a survey / by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation. [n.p., n.d.].
Treadway, Walter. Care of mental defectives, the insane, the alcoholics in Springfield, Illinois: a study by the National Committee for Mental Hygiene. [n.p., n.d.].
Colcord, Joanna. Broken homes: a study of family desertion and its social treatment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1919.
Odencrantz, Louise C. Italian women in industry: a study of conditions in New York City. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1919.
Harrison, Shelby M. Social conditions in an American city: a summary of the findings of the Springfield survey. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1920.
Veiller, Lawrence. A model housing law, rev. ed. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1920.
Richmond, Mary Ellen. What is social case work?: an introductory description. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1922.
Reeves, Margaret. Training schools for delinquent girls. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1929.
Web Resources
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.