An exhibition documenting the 150-year history of the Legal Aid Society, Fresh York City’s largest provider of legal services for low-income residents, opened today at the New York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West. The exhibit features photographs, press clippings, and other historical items tracing the organization’s evolution from a minor advocacy group for German immigrants to a vital component of the city’s legal system.
Founded in 1876 as Der Deutsche Rechtsschutz-Verein, the organization initially addressed the vulnerabilities of recent German arrivals who, according to a 1954 Buffalo Law Review article, “had not had the opportunity to learn our language and the methods of some of our unscrupulous gentry.” Elmer C. Miller, an attorney for Legal Aid’s Buffalo counterpart, wrote at the time that the “integrity of the courts was questioned, and the Bar Association was unequipped to cope with this situation.”
Over the decades, Legal Aid expanded its reach beyond the German immigrant community, growing from a group comprised of “merchants, importers and professional people other than lawyers” handling a few hundred cases to an organization that now serves approximately 2 million New Yorkers annually. The organization’s history is closely linked to significant civil rights struggles in the city, including its defense of those incarcerated during the Attica Uprising, its involvement in the landmark Willowbrook State School litigation, and its ongoing advocacy for unhoused families and individuals detained at Rikers Island.
A panel discussion featuring New York City Corporation Counsel Steven Banks, current Legal Aid Attorney-in-Chief and CEO Twyla Carter, and historian Bekah Friedman is scheduled for March 18 as part of the sesquicentennial celebration. The Legal Aid Society’s release for the anniversary, titled “Delivering Justice: 150 Years of The Legal Aid Society,” highlights these key moments in the organization’s history.
The Seamen’s Church Institute Archives contributed to the exhibition, providing a photograph from 1902 depicting a Banking Office on State Street, illustrating the organization’s early work.
