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The Committee of Fifteen was a New York City citizens' group that lobbied for the elimination of prostitution and gambling. It was established in November 1900. The Committee hired investigators who visited city locations where prostitution and gambling were alleged to have taken place and filed reports on each site. The investigators visited bars, pool halls, dance halls, and tenements during the year 1901. The investigators posed as clients to determine the locations where prostitution took place.

The Committee disbanded in 1901 after evaluating the investigations and reporting to Governor Benjamin Barker Odell, Jr. It was succeeded by the Committee of Fourteen. In 1902 the Committee of Fifteen's report, The Social Evil With Special Reference to Conditions Existing in the City of New York was released.

Formation and Purpose

The Committee of Fifteen was established at a time when social reform movements were gaining traction in New York City, driven by concerns about the moral impact of prostitution and gambling on the urban poor. The Committee’s creation was part of a broader effort by Progressive Era reformers to clean up the city’s perceived moral decay and rid it of corruption, particularly as it related to vice.

Its members were drawn from New York’s financial, academic, and social elite, who were deeply concerned about the city's reputation and believed that unchecked vice contributed to a culture of crime and political corruption. The Committee aimed to eliminate prostitution and gambling by gathering evidence that could be used to support reform legislation and pressure public officials to take action.

Investigative Methods

The Committee employed private investigators, many of whom were retired law enforcement officers, to visit suspected dens of vice across the city. These investigators, often posing as clients, documented the conditions in tenements, saloons, and brothels, and noted the involvement of both organized crime and corrupt public officials in protecting these establishments.

Part of the Committee’s strategy involved creating a detailed map of vice locations throughout the city. This allowed them to focus efforts on areas where prostitution and gambling were most concentrated, such as the notorious Tenderloin District.

The Committee’s final report, based on these investigations, provided concrete evidence of the widespread nature of prostitution in New York City. It also linked the proliferation of vice to political corruption, noting that many illegal establishments operated with the tacit approval of the police and local government.

Legislative Impact and Social Reforms

One of the major accomplishments of the Committee was its endorsement of reforms proposed by the Tenement House Commission, which sought to hold landlords accountable for illegal activities that took place on their premises. This legislation, targeting landlords of tenement buildings where prostitution was prevalent, was passed in 1901 and represented a significant victory for reformers.

In addition to legislative reforms, the Committee’s findings also contributed to a public outcry over the conditions in which many urban poor lived. The New York Times praised the Committee's efforts, calling their work "a vital step towards the betterment of our city’s moral and physical health."

The Social Evil Report

In 1902, the Committee of Fifteen released its report, The Social Evil With Special Reference to Conditions Existing in the City of New York. This document detailed the extent of prostitution in New York City and recommended various legal reforms, including stricter enforcement of laws against soliciting and harsher penalties for landlords who allowed vice activities on their properties.

The report also laid the groundwork for the creation of the Committee of Fourteen, which focused specifically on combating prostitution in Raines law hotels—establishments that used legal loopholes to sell alcohol and provide rooms for prostitution. The findings of the Committee of Fifteen would continue to shape public policy in New York for years to come.

Legacy and Historical Significance

The Committee of Fifteen is remembered as part of a broader Progressive Era movement that sought to reform the governance and social conditions of New York City. Their efforts to investigate and expose vice, combined with their ability to garner public and political support, made them a model for other reform groups across the country. While the Committee only operated for a brief period, its work had lasting impacts, both in terms of immediate legal reforms and the development of future strategies for regulating urban vice.

Members in 1901

Source:

• William H. Baldwin, Jr. (Chairman)
• Edwin R. A. Seligman (Secretary)
• Charles Stewart Smith
• Joel B. Erhardt
• John Stewart Kennedy
• Felix Adler
• George Haven Putnam
• Charles Sprague Smith
• George Foster Peabody
• Jacob H. Schiff
• Andrew J. Smith
• Austen G. Fox
• William J. O'Brien
• Alexander E. Orr
• John Harsen Rhoades

References

1. "The Social Evil in Tenement Houses. Communication to Gov. Odell by the Committee of Fifteen. Approves Legislation Proposed by the Tenement House Commission, Making Landlords Directly Responsible". The New York Times. 25 March 1901. Retrieved 2008-06-13. The Committee of Fifteen has sent to Gov. Odell a letter expressing approval of the legislation proposed by the Tenement House Commission in regard to the suppression of the social evil in tenement houses.
2. ^ "Committee of Fifteen records 1900-1901". The New York Public Library. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
3. Katz, Elizabeth. Prostitution and Morality in New York City, 1890-1920. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
4. Beckert, Sven. The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850-1896. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
5. McCormick, Richard. The Progressive Movement in New York City. Harper & Brothers, 1956.
6. Pascoe, Peggy. Relations of Rescue: The Role of Women in New York's Urban Reform Movements. University of Chicago Press, 1990.
7. Burrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. Oxford University Press, 1999.
8. "The Tenderloin, New York’s Vice District". Bowery Boys Podcast. October 2009.
9. Riis, Jacob. The Battle with the Slum. New York: Macmillan, 1902.
10. "Tenement House Reform in New York". The New York Times. April 1, 1901.
11. Burns, Sarah. Inventing the Public Enemy: Prostitution and the Progressive Era in New York. Yale University Press, 1989.
12. "Vice in New York City". The New York Times. July 15, 1901.
13. Committee of Fifteen. The Social Evil With Special Reference to Conditions Existing in the City of New York. New York, 1902.
14. McNamara, John. The History of Raines Law Hotels and Their Impact on Prostitution. NYU Press, 1910.
15. Addams, Jane. Democracy and Social Ethics. New York: Macmillan, 1902.
16. Campbell, Robert. New York's Progressive Movement: The Fight Against Urban Vice, 1890-1915. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983.

Further reading

• Committee of Fifteen Records, 1900–1901. Compiled by Melanie Yolles. New York: Manuscripts and Archives Section, New York Public Library

• Prostitution in New York (state)
• Organizations based in New York City
• 1900 establishments in New York City
• 1901 disestablishments in New York (state)
• Organizations established in 1900
• Organizations disestablished in 1901