“Charitable activity of the postwar era has ‘lessening the burden of the government as its object.” Through the building and running institutions that cared for population such as the elderly, orphans, and soldiers charitable organizations after the war helped to alleviate the burden placed on the government by Reconstruction and soldier’s pensions. This institution building also led to ideas such as boards of trustees and eventually foundation philanthropy. Without the institution building of the post-war era, philanthropy would have a smaller impact on the world today and be organized less like the business sector.
Emily Beeler Fletcher’s Philanthropic Work Emily Beeler Fletcher was heavily involved in community philanthropic work while
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Her attitude reflects a true empathy for others and an understanding of how situations can get out of control. On January 12th, 1866 Beeler Fletcher visited sick Mrs. Hinton. Mrs. Hinton had been out of work the whole winter because of her illness and her family was in dire straits. Beeler Fletcher helped the family by seeing “that they [were] made comfortable” and continued to visit them frequently until Mrs. Hinton’s illness subsided. On January 15th, 1866, the Hinton’s situation prompted Beeler Fletcher to write in here journal “how I pity the poor.” The Hinton’s were not the only family which received some of Beeler Fletcher’s benevolence that January, on the 26th of the month she helped another family in distress. The husband of the family was sick and hadn’t worked for months and the wife had just had twins two weeks prior to Beeler Fletcher assisting them. These cases show that Beeler Fletcher looked into situations before she decided to help. She wanted her money to be well spent and her time not to be wasted, much like many philanthropists at the