User:AMM Pittsburgh/Henrietta Additon

Henrietta Additon (1887 – 1973) was an American social welfare advocate and a corrections official who frequently lectured on criminal justice issues. She was described as "an authority on community planning, social work, problems of child care, juvenile delinquency and crime prevention."

Life and career
Additon was born May 14, 1887. She died in 1973 in New York City.

A former a probation officer in Philadelphia, she was chief of probation for the city's Juvenile Court.

After moving to New York, she was credited with the formation of the Crime Prevention Bureau of the New York City police department. She was also a lecturer at the Bryn Mawr graduate school of social work.

In 1932, Additon is mentioned in the newspaper as having been the Sixth Deputy Police Commissioner for New York City, "who is thoroughly experienced in the social welfare field."

Westfield State Farm
Additon

In her own words, she described the helpful nature of her work as superintendent of the prison and reformatory for a women. "'Our girls and women, all over 16 years of age, are in for all crimes: murder, embezzlement, assault, and cutting off the ears of their boy friends, and I wish to emphasize that it is not necessarily true today that a term in prison leaves them worse off, as . they frequently are paroled and go out into jobs for which they have been well trained in our various career courses at Westﬂeld. An expert psychiatrist is employed by the state and she is doing a ﬁne job up there of diverting our women from crime to healthful activities -- they are treated from the beginning as a doctor treats cancer — a disease caught in time is frequently curable."

New York World's Fair
In 1937, Additon, former New York City Deputy Police Commissioner, was appointed Director of Welfare activities for the upcoming New York World's Fair. Her responsibilities included caring for the sick, lost and runaways who may be found at the Fair. Her organization also had to provide first aid care for those who became sick or injured.

Woman of achievement
The Women's Centennial Congress organized by Carrie Chapman Catt was held in New York City in November 25-27, 1940, to celebrate a century of female progress. To demonstrate their advances, 100 "successful women" were invited to represent their respective fields of study in which they were working in 1940, but that would have been impossible for them in 1840. Additon was listed in the politics category with Eleanor Roosevelt, among others. The 100 women chosen were "all American, alive and doing jobs that would have been impossible for a woman to undertake in 1840."