1850

Charles Loring Brace

• 1848–1850 — Brace travels through Europe, including Germany, Hungary, and England, where encounters with urban poverty and child destitution shape his reformist vision. He is briefly imprisoned in Hungary on suspicion of revolutionary sympathies.

Daniel D Bernard

• September 3, 1850 – September 21, 1853— Served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Prussia, appointed by President Millard Fillmore. Resident at Berlin.
  • Source: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State
  • Quote: "Appointed: September 3, 1850. Presentation of Credentials: December 10, 1850. Termination of Mission: Presented recall on September 21, 1853. Commissioned to Prussia; resident at Berlin." — Department History

Ernst Curtius; Alexander von Humboldt

• c. 1850–1851 — While still in Berlin, befriended and mentored Charles Loring Brace, the young Yale graduate who would later found the Children's Aid Society. Curtius provided Brace access to library materials and introduced him to elite intellectual circles, including Alexander von Humboldt.
  • Source: The Life of Charles Loring Brace, Pg 106, Curtius helps get books from the library
  • Quote: "Curtius will help me get books from the Library. I have a capital circle of acquaintances… Curtius is a friend of Humboldt, and I find is really considered a very remarkable man." — Charles Loring Brace, letter to Frederick John Kingsbury

Irish Potato Famine

• 1850–1852: Ongoing emigration, evictions, and demographic collapse; government policy remains primarily routed through Poor Law administrationrather than renewed emergency provisioning.
  • Source: Britannica (landlord evictions + poor relief frame). https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history/Great-Famine-relief-efforts
  • Quote (locator: Britannica — “Great Famine relief efforts”, paragraph 2): “...hundreds of thousands of Irish tenant farmers and labourers were evicted during the years of the crisis.”
• By 1852:Famine conditions ease unevenly; institutional legacy persists through land, governance, and migration patterns.
  • Source: National Archives of Ireland, Distress Papers & Relief Commission guide. https://nationalarchives.ie/help-with-research/research-guides/famine-records-distress-papers-and-the-relief-commission/
  • Quote (locator: NAI — “Background to the Distress Papers”): “By examining the Distress Papers, researchers can gain insights into the government’s response to the famine, the challenges faced by relief agencies and the broader impact of the crisis on Irish society.”

Great Famine Relief Efforts

1850–1852 — “Afterlife” of famine governance

• 1850–1852: Ongoing emigration, evictions, and demographic collapse; government policy remains primarily routed through Poor Law administration rather than renewed emergency provisioning.
  • Source: Britannica (landlord evictions + poor relief frame). https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history/Great-Famine-relief-efforts
  • Quote (locator: Britannica — “Great Famine relief efforts”, paragraph 2): “...hundreds of thousands of Irish tenant farmers and labourers were evicted during the years of the crisis.”

• By 1852: Famine conditions ease unevenly; institutional legacy persists through land, governance, and migration patterns.
  • Source: National Archives of Ireland, Distress Papers & Relief Commission guide. https://nationalarchives.ie/help-with-research/research-guides/famine-records-distress-papers-and-the-relief-commission/
  • Quote (locator: NAI — “Background to the Distress Papers”): “By examining the Distress Papers, researchers can gain insights into the government’s response to the famine, the challenges faced by relief agencies and the broader impact of the crisis on Irish society.”

Irish Emigrant Society; Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank

• 1850 — The Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank is established by officers of the Irish Emigrant Society.
  • Source: NYPL Archives finding aid and NYPL Digital Collections overview page for the bank’s records.[1]
  • Quote: “1850 The Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank … is established in New York City by officers of the Irish Emigrant Society.”[1]

Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank

1850 — Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Incorporated

Eighteen members of the Irish Emigrant Society contribute $200 each to found the EISB. Gregory Dillon, President of the Society, becomes the bank's first president. The bank opens for business at 51 Chambers Street, Manhattan, in leased property, on September 30, 1850.

Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, "Former Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building," Designation Report LP-1438, July 8, 1985 — http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1438.pdf

Quote: "The Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank was incorporated in 1850. Organized under the auspices of Bishop John Hughes and the Irish Emigrant Society, it was intended to protect the savings of newly-arrived immigrants (particularly those from Ireland) from unscrupulous people who might take advantage of their inexperience." — NYC LPC, LP-1438