This essay is a case study of a New York City philanthropy's effort fr
om 1927 through 1953 to preserve the health of white women working in
clerical, sales, and professional jobs for low wages. In creating a su
bsidized health clinic for this targeted population of women workers,
the urban charity succeeded in relieving the suffering and worry of on
e part of the working-poor population while simultaneously reinforcing
racial and social class divisions of the period.