Addams, Day, and Dewey: The Emergence of Community Service in American Culture

This paper describes the contours of a history of community service in the United States. It argues that it is a modern concept emerging out of the collision of capitalism and democracy at the turn of the century. This collision generated a crisis of community and a profound rethinking of the meaning and practice of charity, which resulted in the definition of three "paths" of service: the nonprofit human service organization; a strong federal government and active citizenship supported by democratic education; and the creation of alternative communities which reject many of the values of capitalism and democracy in favor of more humane or spiritual values. These paths are explored through the work of Jane Addams, John Dewey, and Dorothy Day. [author]