The Society for the Friendless was a charitable association dedicated to the rehabilitation of former prisoners. The Reverend Edward A. Fredenhagen, the founder and first national superintendent of the Society, was born in Downers Grove, Illinois on April 7, 1860. He attended Wheaton College and the Chicago Theological Seminary, received his Ph.D. from Kansas City University and a Doctor of Divinity degree from Adrian College, Michigan. For ten years he held pastorates in various Illinois cities. At the time of his death in 1916, the organization he had founded in 1901 was operating in twelve states. His goal was to administer to discharged prisoners, and to make them aware that someone was interested in helping them to a new life in the community.
The Society for the Friendless originated in the minds of Christian ministers who believed in the practical application of Christian principles to the needs of men and women released from prison. Their approach differed from that of the social worker, and as the theory of social work developed, conflict arose between the two methods. The ministers who carried on the activities of the Society were not trained specifically for their work, while the social workers emphasized the importance of training and believed that work with released prisoners was merely another form of relief work similar to family and child welfare. The conflict was solved in some cases by special training for service in the field. The Wisconsin Division of the association adopted this solution.
In April 1901, the original Society for the Friendless was incorporated in Kansas. The national Society for the Friendless was organized in 1910. From the beginning, the Society emphasized jail and prison evangelism, finding temporary homes and employment for released prisoners, educational work for the prevention of crime, and better laws for the handling of the crime situation. The Society workers were forerunners in advocating reforms in the handling of prisoners and penal institutions.
The national Society for the Friendless continued to expand until 1931 under the superintendency of the Reverend James Parsons, who was elected to that office in 1917 following the death of Edward Fredenhagen the preceding year. Parsons was born in England on September 8, 1863, one of ten children. He came to the United States in early childhood with his parents. Parsons graduated from Wheaton College in 1888 and from the Pacific Theological Seminary in Oakland, California in 1893. He held various Congregational pastorates and in 1906 was moderator of the Missouri Conference of Congregational Churches. In 1909, he resigned his pastorate in Sedalia, Missouri to become the superintendent of the Minnesota Society for the Friendless, a position he held until his election to the national superintendency of the Society. At the death of James Parsons (circa 1944-1945), his brother, the Reverend Charles Parsons, succeeded to the superintendency. Charles Parsons, also, was born in England, on December 28, 1865, and came to the United States at the age of two years. He graduated from Wheaton College in 1891, and from the Chicago Theological Seminary in 1894. He had pastorates in Iowa, Illinois, and South Dakota before becoming superintendent of the newly organized Iowa Division of the Society for the Friendless in 1909.
During the 1930s, the state organizations, which were dependent on private philanthropy, began to decline in numbers and activities. In 1952, at the time of Charles Parsons' death, the Iowa Society was the only one still functioning under the original name. The Wisconsin Division remained active, but the name had been changed in May 1941 to the Wisconsin Service Association.
The history of the Society in Wisconsin began in November 1912, when the Reverend A.C. Petrie, a Methodist Episcopal minister, resigned his position as assistant superintendent of the Minnesota Society for the Friendless to develop a similar organization in Wisconsin. After 1918, because of Petrie's declining health, the work in Wisconsin was dormant until, in 1924, the daughter of James Parsons, Ruth (Mrs. John G.) Baker began the development of an efficient and progressive organization. Mrs. Baker continued as assistant superintendent under various superintendents including the Reverends F.L. Stacy (1928-1930) and Allen M. McIntosh (1931-1935); Walter Botsford, who came to the Wisconsin Division in 1939; and Harold D. Scott, who was appointed assistant superintendent in 1944. Mrs. Baker was herself superintendent before Botsford and again when he resigned to go into government service.
The official publication of the national Society for the Friendless was The First Friend, which was issued quarterly for nearly fifty years.
The above information for the history of the Society for the Friendless has been taken from: Haynes, Fred B., The Society for the Friendless, 1900-1952. Iowa City, Iowa: State University of Iowa, 1954, 30pp.
