Who was Felix Adler?
Felix Adler, a German-American educator and social reformer, founded the New York Society for Ethical Culture in 1876 at the age of 24. Adler’s belief in deed rather than creed led the Society to foster two innovative projects. In 1877, the Society sponsored Visiting Nursing where nurses and doctors, if necessary, visited the homebound sick in poor districts. This service was eventually incorporated into the New York City health system. A year later, in 1878, a Free Kindergarten was established as a tuition-free school for workingmen’s children. It evolved over time into the Ethical Culture Fieldston School whose mission today of a diverse community and child-centered curriculum attempts to further Adler’s original conviction that school and society should be creatively entwined. Well known as a lecturer and writer, Felix Adler served as rector for the Ethical Culture School until his death in 1933. He also held the chair of political and social ethics at Columbia University from 1902
