Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society. Auxiliary Society

The credited creator of The Auxiliary cook book is not a single individual but the Auxiliary Society of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society of New York Orphan Asylum, the group named on the 1909 original publication. The book itself describes it as the work of the society’s women members, assembled for the benefit of the organization’s Cottage Fund, with recipes contributed and signed by members.

The Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society was founded in 1879 in New York to care for destitute children, orphaned or not. Later, it became known for the Pleasantville Cottage School, an important early example of cottage-style child care rather than a single large institution.

That background helps explain the feel of the book: it is practical, communal, and purpose-driven. More than a standard authorial work, it stands as a collaborative snapshot of Jewish charitable life in New York, preserving both domestic traditions and the fundraising spirit behind them.