“How hard... it is
to have the tastes, the habits, the longings and
recollections, if not of affluence, at least of comfort,
and yet to be poor.”
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Young women of Gratz's class and era filled their
time with social activities and family duties. Gratz,
however, like other members of her family, became involved
in benevolent work. In 1801, she, along with her mother,
sister and twenty-one other prominent women, founded
Philadelphia's first nonsectarian women's charitable
organization, The Female Association for the Relief of
Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances. The
Assocation sought to aid honest, industrious women who
had fallen upon misfortune. It became a model for most
of the women's organizations Gratz would later help to
establish—women made all the decisions and accomplished
all aspects of the organization's work, including the
management of funds. Because of her proficiency as a
writer, Gratz became the organization's secretary and
served for twenty-two years. As secretary, she took
minutes, handled correspondence, authored annual reports,
and wrote all other public documents for the organization.
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