Social Welfare History Project admin Page 17

Witte, Edwin E.

Edwin E. Witte ( 1887 – 1960 ) — Reformer, Teacher, Administrator and Father of Social Security Edwin Witte’s career was approximately evenly divided between university teaching and serving as a State or Federal official. For him these areas of activity were closely related. He was a part of the “Wisconsin Idea” of public…

Wald, Lillian

Lillian D. Wald (1867 – 1940) — Nurse, Social Worker, Women’s Rights Activist and Founder of Henry Street Settlement Introduction: Lillian D. Wald was a nurse, social worker, public health official, teacher, author, editor, publisher, woman’s rights activist, and the founder of American community nursing. Her unselfish devotion to humanity is recognized around the…

Volker, William

William Volker — (April 1, 1859 – November 4, 1947): Successful businessman, philanthropist and community leader who participated actively in the creation of the nation’s first public welfare department in Kansas City, MO. Introduction: William Volker was an entrepreneur who turned a picture frame business into a multimillion-dollar empire and who then gave away his…

Vaile, Gertrude

Gertrude Vaile (January 20, 1878 – October 15, 1954): Social Worker, Public Welfare Administrator, Reformer and Pioneer in Social Work Education Introduction: Gertrude Vaile was a nationally recognized social welfare leader who was able to demonstrate that it was feasible and productive to apply casework principles and practices to the field of public welfare and…

Tubman, Harriet

Tubman had made the perilous trip to slave country 19 times by 1860, including one especially challenging journey in which she rescued her 70-year-old parents. Of the famed heroine, who became known as “Moses,” Frederick Douglass said, “Excepting John Brown — of sacred memory — I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than [Harriet Tubman].”

Townsend, Dr. Francis

After the war the Townsends lived in Long Beach, Calif. But Townsend’s private medical practice did not prosper so he took a position as assistant city health director. Because of the Great Depression, he soon lost that job. Then, at the age of 66 and wanting to retire, Townsend grew increasingly indignant over the plight of the large number of poverty-stricken old people like himself. In 1933 he proposed a plan whereby the Federal government would provide every person over 60 a $200 monthly pension. The plan called for a guaranteed monthly pension of $200, a quite-considerable sum in the 1930. The pension would be sent to every retired citizen age 60 or older, to be paid for by a form of a national sales tax of 2% on all business transactions with the stipulation that each pensioner would be required to spend the money within 30 days. His idea was to end the Depression through consumer spending by way of ending poverty among the elderly.

Towley, Louis H.

Louis H. Towley (1904-1959): Public Welfare Administrator and Professor of Social Work Introduction: Louis Towley held a number of administrative and supervisory positions in the field of public welfare in Minnesota during the 1930s and early 1940s. Towley’s work centered primarily on policy and procedural development by the state agencies that administered and integrated…

Reida, John

John Reida — Clinical Social Worker, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs John Reida had a long a productive career with the Veterans Administration. After completing his education at Boston University, receiving a bachelor of arts in 1950 and a master of social work in 1952, he joined the VA’s Social Work Service program as…

Rinaldo, Harriet

Harriet Rinaldo (1906-1981) — Social Worker and Long Time Employee of U.S. Department of Veterans Administration Harriett was born in Sioux City, Iowa. She lived in Wheaton, Illinois until she entered Smith College in 1923 and graduated with honors in 1927. She continued at Smith and received her master’s degree in social work. When…

Richmond, Mary

Mary Richmond is considered a principle founder of the profession of social work and the importance of professional education. She constructed the foundations for the scientific methodology development of professional social work. She searched for the causes of poverty and social exclusion in the interaction between an individual and his or her environment.