Research

Administrative History

Governor Charles S. Whitman appointed Charles H. Strong a commissioner under the Moreland Act on November 18, 1915. Strong was to investigate charges made by John A. Kingsbury, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Public Charities, in his annual report to Mayor John Purroy Mitchel, that poor conditions were allowed to persist in many private child care institutions because of the negligent supervision and inspection practices of the State Board of Charities.

In 1916, during the course of the investigation, Edward A. Moree, an employee of the State Charities Aid Association, anonymously issued a pamphlet of reprints of news articles highly critical of conditions in children's institutions. Some Catholic clergy saw the investigation as anti-Catholic because some Catholic institutions were involved. They responded to the investigation and to the anonymous pamphlet by issuing a series of pamphlets defending the church and its children's institutions and attacking the investigation and the individuals conducting it.

At Kingsbury's request, the police tapped the phones of Reverend William B. Farrell, under whose name the pamphlets were issued, and Daniel C. Potter, believed to be the actual author. These men and Robert W. Hebberd, secretary of the State Board of Charities, were suspected of illegally obstructing the investigation. Hebberd later resigned from his post while the investigation was still ongoing.

Strong held hearings concerning the State Board of Charities, children's institutions, and the "Farrell pamphlets." His final report upheld Kingsbury's charges and recommended reorganizing and strengthening the State Board of Charities and having paid, full time, qualified members on the Board. Mayor Mitchel had supported the investigation and, due in part to criticism by the Catholic church, was defeated in his bid for re-election.