Students from Seventeenth Street Mission, Richmond, VA
Caption on front:
"Taken 4/11/15 X John Little from Louisville"
Card addressed to W. G. Somerville and postmarked April 16, 1915
Note on back identifies
1) Murray Grey - Superintendent (misspelled "Gray")
2) Webster Rhoads - Grace St. Church
3) Owsley Sanders - Grace St. Church
Note: the
Rev. John Little directed especially successful settlement houses serving African Americans in Louisville, KY.
In 1911, students from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (Later, Union Presbyterian Seminary) started an urban ministry outreach program in the most impoverished neighborhood of Richmond, VA. The Seventeenth Street Mission functioned as a settlement house, offering laundry facilities and showers, meals, a clothing closet, classes in sewing, carpentry and other skills. The Sunday School program focused on the memorization of Bible verses, catechisms and the Lord's Prayer. In 1914, students from the General Assembly's Training School (later, the Presbyterian School of Christian Education) joined in as teachers and volunteers, and the effort became largely staffed by women.