By the 1880s, charity fairs, also called bazaars, had become a regular feature of New York’s social season. Organized largely by women, these temporary markets sold donated goods to raise money for hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable causes. Behind the elegant booths and fashionable crowds was something more significant: an opportunity for women to manage money, lead committees, and organize large public events at a time when many professional opportunities remained closed to them.

In April 1864, the Metropolitan Fair opened in New York to benefit the United States Sanitary Commission, which provided medical care and supplies to Union soldiers during the Civil War. The event became the largest Sanitary Fair of the war, raising more than a million dollars. Women played a central role in its success, demonstrating their ability to organize ambitious fundraising efforts on a remarkable scale. Its Ladies’ Association was headed by Mrs. Hamilton Fish, with a committee that included Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, Mrs. Richard M. Hunt, and Mrs. Alfred Schermerhorn.

By the end of the century, charity fairs had grown into elaborate productions that attracted celebrities, prominent society families, and thousands of visitors. One of the most famous examples helped fund the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. In 1883, an art exhibition and auction at New York’s National Academy of Design offered an eclectic collection of treasures, including fine art, antique furniture, lace, and literary manuscripts. The proceeds would support the pedestal, which American organizers had struggled to fund.

Among those involved was the poet Emma Lazarus, a published writer and the daughter of sugar refiner Moses Lazarus, a member of New York’s Jewish social elite. At the request of writer Constance Cary Harrison and other organizers, Lazarus contributed a sonnet to the exhibition. Initially reluctant, she eventually agreed after Harrison reminded her of the Russian refugees Lazarus had visited on Ward’s Island. Her poem, “The New Colossus,” expressed a vision of America as a refuge for the displaced.

Although the exhibition raised $15,000 for the pedestal, Lazarus’s poem soon faded from public attention. In 1903, her friend Georgina Schuyler arranged for it to be engraved on a bronze tablet inside the Statue of Liberty. Today, its words are inseparable from the monument’s meaning.

Charity fairs did more than raise money; they also challenged social conventions. In 1892, the Actors’ Fund Fair at Madison Square Garden raised more than $163,000 to support actors in need. At the time, acting was not universally considered a respectable profession, even among New York’s elite. The fair’s success helped improve the public standing of performers and demonstrated the influence they could wield when society joined their cause.

Women were once again instrumental in organizing the event. The fair’s success was widely credited to the efforts of its women’s executive committee. On December 6, 1892, twenty-one of its members met at Mrs. Palmer’s house to found the Professional Woman’s League, an organization supporting women pursuing careers in drama, music, and literature.

The tradition continued into the twentieth century. In 1907, another Actors’ Fund Fair filled the Metropolitan Opera House with elaborate booths, entertainers, and fortune tellers. President Theodore Roosevelt launched the event remotely from Washington, and Mark Twain delivered the opening speech. The fair ultimately raised $63,941.60.

What began as a way to support charitable causes had become something more. These fairs gave women opportunities to lead and brought influential New Yorkers together around public causes. Behind the elaborate displays and fashionable gatherings, charity fairs offered women a place to exercise their talents and shape the world around them.