human
comradeship because it is the very essence of the Christian fellowship
which he was striving to implant.

As time went on, an increasing number of girls and young women entering
the business world created a social problem which weighed heavily on the
rector's mind and heart. Knowing the special conditions which these
young women must meet in a large city, he applied grave thought and much
energy to the study of their needs and to the opportunity which Christ
Church had in meeting them. Finding nothing for them socially in the
city except the Y.W.C.A., some distance away, he sent invitations to
department stores for a meeting at the parish house. At this meeting he
proposed to establish a branch of the Girls' Friendly Society which is
found throughout the Episcopal Church and which exists for social and
educational purposes. Mr. Nelson gave himself particularly to this
organization. He gathered a set of workers in the parish, women of
character and cultural background, who became the leaders and friends of
the various groups. He was a frequent visitor at meetings and often
conducted a question box. He encouraged the members to make it one of
their prime objectives to work for the city's interest. The rapid growth
of the Society enabled it to support a bed in the Children's Hospital,
to finance the Vacation House on the Ohio River, and to promote other
civic projects. The Christ Church organization became one of the largest
and most active branches in the national society, and had a succession
of remarkable directors, such as Deaconess Lloyd and Miss Alice Simrall.
Mr. Nelson's faith and incomparable friendship as well as his careful
planning made the Girls' Friendly a strong and useful force in
Cincinnati and an influence in the national body.

In those days the public schools provided nothing in the way of training
in the practical arts, and a large work along these lines was carried on
among the boys and girls who lived in the districts adjacent to Christ
Church. The Sewing School, for instance, grew in membership in three
years from twenty-four to over two hundred under unfavorable conditions
in the already cramped parish house. When the College Settlement on
Third Street closed, the church took over its kindergarten equipment and
its list of members, and every morning gathered in the children of
pre-school age.

When some people said it was a mistake to make a parish house a
community center, because in thei