March 21, 2013

Celebrating CCC’s History of Women Making a Difference

March is National Women’s History Month, and CCC is taking this opportunity to pay tribute to the remarkable women who were central to the founding and development of our organization, starting in 1944. These inspired and resourceful women included Eleanor Roosevelt, Adele Rosenwald Levy, Trude Lash, Judge Justine Wise Polier, and others who were committed to lending their voices to New York City’s youngest and most vulnerable. Their concern for child well-being initiated CCC as the watchdog for the city’s children for decades to come.

At the time CCC was founded, many mothers in New York City were working outside the home as a result of the war and children had inadequate care during the day or were often coming home from school to empty apartments. Our founders sought like-minded New Yorkers to join CCC and worked hand-in-hand with staff experts to conduct research and analysis to inform their advocacy with city and state leaders. This unique partnership helped secure continued funding for the landmark Mayor’s Committee on the Wartime Care for Children.

Today, CCC continues to fight for government resources that provide for the needs of New York’s children. Fact-finding remains central to CCC’s work, and communicating with elected officials, policy makers, and the public about solutions to problems facing NYC’s children and their families continues.

While men have played leadership roles at CCC, many of our successes have been made possible thanks to the inspired leadership and social activism of women – a tradition that has even been passed down over generations. In fact, our founding President, Adele Rosenwald Levy, was the great aunt of our current board chair, Chris Stern Hyman, whose grandmother, Marion Ascoli, was a board chair in the 1960s, and whose stepmother, Joanne Stern, and cousin, Audrey Hess, also played important roles in the years since.

And a special mention to Betty Wolff, who was President and Chairman of CCC in the 1970s and 1980s and continues to be active at CCC at the age of 95.

Over our 69 year history, the majority of our Executive Directors have also been women, including founding Executive Director, Charlotte Carr, longtime Executive Directors Trude Lash and Gail B. Nayowith, and our current Executive Director Jennifer March-Joly.

We celebrate and offer thanks to all the women at CCC who have been key to our history and continue to inspire us and so many others to lend their voices to New York City’s children. Learn the ways that you can get involved!

And on April 23, we will continue to celebrate CCC’s decades of advocacy and community education aimed at making New York a better place to be a child at a special art event and silent auction at the Museum of Modern Art. We hope you will join us!

If you would like to learn more about CCC’s history, check out our CCC Timeline, which shows how our imprint can be seen on virtually every major development for New York children since our founding.

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About CCC, National Women's History Month

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