Goodwill appeared to be “ready to operate” in San Antonio in 1936, but it wasn’t...
Now we have another question: In March 1937, Mrs. S.P. Cunningham was instrumental in bringing the Rev. Edgar J. Helms to San Antonio to speak before the Woman’s Club about the Goodwill he founded in Boston, Mass. We don’t know anything more about her than that. Would you happen to know if there was ever any write-up in the paper about her? We’d love to know more about her, especially if there was a photo of her in the paper and what her first name was. We think “S.P.
Founded in Boston in 1902 by a young Methodist minister, Edgar James Helms, Goodwill Industries is famous for serving two populations — workers with disabilities who receive training and employment and those who need the low prices of the refurbished clothing and household goods sold in Goodwill stores. The idea of collecting donated items for repair spread to cities all over the country during the first two decades of the 20th century, often after a visit from Helms.
Only a few months later, the local Goodwill appeared to be “ready to operate,” according to the Express, July 18, 1936. The San Antonio branch “soon will be prepared to begin its campaign to give employment to destitute San Antonians,” as announced by “Mrs. S.P. Cunningham, manager.” She would have been well-known to many readers, as the widow of Dr. Samuel Preston Cunningham, a former president of the Bexar County Medical Society who died in 1930, and as an active clubwoman in her own right.
Typically, a Goodwill unit was supposed to be at least 85 percent self-supporting, with the remainder coming from the community. The next effort may have been to try to get financial contributions, because the previous announcement seems to have been premature.
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