David Klaassen was Curator/Archivist, of the Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries from 1975 until his retirement in 2011. Selected publications include: “The Archives of Social Welfare in the United States, in Paul Stuart and John Herrick, eds., Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History (Sage, 2004); “The Archives of Social Welfare,” in Richard L. Edwards,…

June Hopkins, Ph.D. was Professor of History at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA from 1998 until her retirement in 2016. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, her M.P.A. from Pace University, her M.A. from California State University, Northridge, and her Ph.D. from Georgetown University. She specializes in U.S. social history…

Ellen Herman, Ph.D., is Professor, Department of History University of Oregon. Dr. Herman is a historian of the modern United States who is especially interested in the human sciences, social engineering, and therapeutic culture. Her most recent book is Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States (University of Chicago Press,…

John E. Hansan, Ph.D. (1930 – 2019) was a career social worker with a doctorate in social welfare policy from Brandeis University. He worked for 45 years in human service programs at the local, state, and national levels. His early career was staffing and directing settlement houses in Kansas City, MO, Philadelphia, PA, Peoria, IL…

Linda Gordon, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of history at New York University, New York, NY and recipient of many awards and honors. She is also a Fellow, Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, New York Public Library, 2004-05. Her areas of expertise include orphans and single mothers, Twentieth-century U.S. social, political, and social policy…

Charles D. Garvin  is Professor Emeritus of Social Work at the University of Michigan. He received his Master’s in Social Work (1951) and his Ph.D. (1968) from the University of Chicago. He worked as a group worker for Chapin Hall (Chicago) in 1951, Henry Booth House (Chicago) 1954-1956 and the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago (1956-1963)….

Larry W. Dewitt is the former public historian at the U. S. Social Security Administration. He was a Fellow at the Council for Excellence in Government during 1993–1994, and is a member of the Society for History in the Federal Government and the Organization of American Historians. A member of the National Academy of Social…

Harris Chaiklin, Ph.D., (d. 2015) was Professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School Of Social Work; and he has also been a Fulbright scholar and visiting professor at Haifa University School of Social Work. His teaching specialties centered on the social aspects of practice and research. His research interests were in practice relating to…

Allida Black is Research Professor of History and International Affairs at The George Washington University and Project Director and Editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, a project designed to preserve, teach and apply Eleanor Roosevelt’s writings and discussions of human rights and democratic politics. Professor Black is the recipient of the Millennium Medal from The…

Edward Berkowitz, Ph. D., Professor of History and Public Policy and Public Administration and Director of the Program in History and Public Policy, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. His areas of expertise include disability and social security. His most recent monograph, The Other Welfare: Supplemental Security Income and U.S. Social Policy, appeared with Cornell University…