Big-Brother Movement
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an organized plan to enlist the personal interest of men of good will in the salvaging or timely protection of delinquent or neglected boys whose physical, mental, or moral development has been or is being hindered by lack of proper environment and outlook in the formative years of adolescence. The idea originated with Ernest K. Coulter of New York, who maintained that what the average delinquent boy most needs for his reformation and upbuilding is some personal interest and a helping hand on the part of some "big brother." off by ordi- At present the movement is represented in some form in over one hundred American cities; and in addition to the parent organization there are several special organizations such as the Catholic Big Brothers, the Jewish Big Brothers, and the Colored Big Brothers. A number of established societies of various kinds co-operate in the work, but while organizations as such are utilized, the emphasis is laid on personal, individual service. In the New York organization there were recently over six hundred men from all walks of life giving from one to several hours each week to the work of acting as a Workers in settlements, big brother. churches, children's aid societies, etc., send in the names of boys between the ages of ten and eighteen who stand in need of counsel and friendship, and special effort is made to reach unfortunate boys coming before the juvenile courts. A similar organization for the protection of girls is called the Big-Sister Movement. On Nov. 2, 1921, the "Big- Brother and Big-Sister Federation" was organized under the laws of New York. Nearly one hundred local organizations Ne in the United States and Canada, with a total of about 50,000 volunteer workers, are included under the new federation.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's wrote in 1921, just weeks after the "Big-Brother and Big-Sister Federation" was chartered in New York, and the movement Ernest K. Coulter began in 1904 is still running: one screened adult volunteer matched to one child, hours a week, indefinitely. What has gone is the segregated structure the entry describes so matter-of-factly — the separate Catholic, Jewish and "Colored" Big Brothers — with the two national bodies eventually merging in 1977 into Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a single desegregated organization matching boys and girls alike. The other shift is evidential: what was offered in 1921 as obvious good will has since been tested by controlled studies of mentored versus unmentored youth, which is why the model still attracts public and corporate funding. One accidental change the 1921 writer could not foresee is the phrase itself, which after Orwell's 1949 novel no longer means only a kindly volunteer.
Written for this edition, 2026.