established the Christian Mission, later renamed the Salvation Army, in the East End of London. Determined to assail the twin enemies of poverty and religious indifference with the efficiency of a military organization, Booth modeled his sect after the British army, labeling ministers "officers" and new members "recruits." A former Methodist minister, Booth espoused the religious doctrines subscribed to by mainstream Protestant evangelical denominations at the time. The Salvation Army was unique, however, in its commitment to establishing a presence in the most forsaken neighborhoods and in its provision for the absolute equality of women within the organization.
In 1880, the Salvation Army expanded to the United States, where it prospered in neighborhoods neglected by more traditional Protestant churches. Ministers, or officers, tried to foster a relaxed atmosphere by minimizing formal rituals and encouraging participation in the form of hand-clapping, musical instrument playing, and spontaneous prayer and singing. As early as 1898, the Army had garnered enough attention for its unorthodox practices to become the subject of a popular satire, Captain Shout, S.A., a farcical comedy included in American Variety Stage, 1870-1920. The play tells the story of a Mrs. Gay, a "gay widow," and her romantic conquest of a Salvation Army captain intent on converting her:
Ah--that charming Captain Shout is coming to convert me to-day. Ha, ha . . . I'll just let them go ahead, as long as they send the Captain to me, for I do like him so much . . . I must have the piano open for him, for these Salvationists do love to sing and make a noise wherever they go.North Carolina mill worker Enoch Ball discovered his life’s work at a meeting of the Salvation Army. "When I was about 22 year [sic] old," he told writer Anne Winn Stevens in "Shave Them," an interview for the Federal Writer's Program of the Works Project Administration, "the Salvation Army came to town and started a big meeting in the old Methodist church . . . Me and my wife both went to the meeting. We was converted and married the same night."
For Ball, the Salvation Army lived up to its name:
After I was converted I stopped drinkin’. The other boys in the gang made fun of me. They persecuted me at first and prophesied it wouldn't be long before I'd be back drinkin' with 'em. But I went right on livin' right. Before long they began going to the meeting too. One by one they was converted . . . Us boys that had been called the Wheathearts from the storeroom where we used to meet, was now called the Sweethearts - meaning good hearts.Within a few decades, the Salvation Army had become a respected charitable organization in the United States. During World War I, it was one of seven groups designated to raise money for the United War Work Campaign, an effort publicized in an "Address by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.," featured in American Leaders Speak, 1918-1920. .
The Salvation Army was aboot the only sect I had much respect for. They used to do a lot of good, and they got dom little thanks for it. That's why they wear those droopy hats, you know. When they first come around, the people would pelt 'em with rotten eggs and vegetables and dom near anything they could lay their hands on. Durin' the war, after they helped oot the soldiers the way they did, they built up a fine reputation."MacCurrie,"
Thomaston, Connecticut,
Francis Donovan, interviewer,
February 15, 1939.
American Life Histories, 1936-1940
