Women's History Month: "Mother" Clara Hale

Clara McBride Hale was born in 1905 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and grew up in Pennsylvania. Her father died shortly after her birth and she was raised by her mother. But at 16, her mother died, leaving her orphaned. Upon graduating high school, she married Thomas Hale, and together they had two children, Lorraine and Nathan. The family moved to New York where they lived and worked until Thomas died in 1932 from cancer.

Despite her devastation over her husband's death, Hale persevered. To support her two children during the Great Depression she worked day and night cleaning houses and theaters. Frustrated with the poor care her children were receiving while she was at work, she began to cut back on her cleaning hours and started caring not only for her own children but others in the neighborhood. During this time she became a licensed foster parent, and in time Hale's home served as a safe place for more than 40 foster children.

When Hale's own children had grown up, she began to cut back on her foster care duties, and by her 64th birthday she was ready to have her house back to herself. Her daughter Lorraine, however, had a different plan. It was 1968 and drug use in the Hales' Harlem neighborhood was nearly ten times what it was in the rest of the country. Tragically, babies were born addicted. One day Lorraine was struck by a neighborhood woman's struggle to care for her addicted, sick child. Lorraine implored her mother to take in the woman and child, which she did. Soon word spread that "Mother" Hale would care for drug-addicted babies, and in a month's time her home was full of very needy children.

Those first days in Hale's Harlem brownstone were the beginning of Hale House, which would grow into a nonprofit organization and expand to include an early education center and a transitional housing program. The full-time care program has moved to an updated facility, and to date Hale House has served more than 500 families. The scope of care has also expanded to include children with HIV and children whose parents are incarcerated. Participation in the program is voluntary on the part of the parents and can serve as an alternative to foster care.

Mother Hale continued her work with Hale House until her death in 1992. By then she had received more than 370 awards in recognition of her work and tireless devotion to children. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan recognized Mother Hale during his State of the Union Address, lauding her as an American hero, and an example of what can be done with a combination of will, faith and heart.