Introduction -- deserving poor in colonial America : 1601-1775 -- Industrialization, immigration, and urban poverty : 1790-1864 -- "Who can describe their misery?" : poverty and American slavery : 1619-1865 -- Charity reconsidered : 1865-1900 -- Social research and recommendations : 1900-1928 -- poor take center stage : 1929-1941 -- invisible mass : 1940-1962 -- war on poverty and its aftermath : 1962-1980 -- years of welfare reform : 1981-1996 -- Poverty endures : 1997-2006 -- Appendix A : Documents -- Appendix B : Biographies of major personalities -- Appendix C : Maps -- Appendix D : Graphs and tables -- Glossary -- Notes -- Bibliography-- Index.