author
John Robertson Henry
1868–1949
A Methodist minister and social observer, he wrote with unusual warmth about immigrant life in early 20th-century New York. His best-known work, Some Immigrant Neighbors, reflects years spent serving diverse communities on the Lower East Side.
1 Audiobook
Some Immigrant Neighbors
by John Robertson Henry
About the author
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, on December 16, 1868, John Robertson Henry became a Methodist clergyman whose work was closely tied to New York City missions and neighborhood churches. Available biographical records describe him as the son of Charles and Sarah White Henry, and note that he entered the ministry around 1900.
Henry served at Seventh Street Church and later at the Church of All Nations in New York, then became superintendent of the Bowery Mission. His career placed him in direct contact with immigrant communities, and that experience shaped his writing. In Some Immigrant Neighbors (1912), he offered a practical, sympathetic look at the lives of newcomers in America, especially in urban neighborhoods.
Later in life he served as pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Rye, New York. Though not a widely known literary figure today, his work remains valuable as a firsthand, humane account of immigrant life and Christian social work in early 20th-century New York.