Committee of Fifteen

For the Joint Committee of Fifteen, see United States Congress Joint Committee on Reconstruction.

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 was 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.^[1]

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.

Members in 1901

• William H. Baldwin, Jr. (Chairman)
• Edwin R. A. Seligman (Secretary)
• Charles Steward 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.". New York Times. 25 March 1901. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950CE3D71330E132A25756C2A9659C946097D6CF. 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." 

Further reading

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