…I have not answered your telegram of July 31 because I have very uncertain as to the general direction our work will take and the staff we will need. The time element is so short that we can not engage in any extensive research work…
Continue Reading »Wilbur J. Cohen (June 13, 1913 – May 17, 1987) — Government Official, Educator, Social Welfare Expert By Larry W. DeWitt, Historian, U. S. Social Security Administration Introduction: Wilbur Cohen was one of the pioneers of the U.S. Social Security system, and a life-long expert on social insurance and social welfare programs. Interspersed among his…
Continue Reading »Carl Christian Carstens (April 2, 1865 – July 4, 1939): First Executive Director Child Welfare League of America. Written by Emma Octavia Lundberg
Continue Reading »Throughout its history, the YWCA has been in the forefront of most major movements in the United States as a pioneer in race relations, labor union representation, and the empowerment of women.
Continue Reading »The YMCA idea, which began among evangelicals, was unusual because it crossed the rigid lines that separated all the different churches and social classes in England in those days. This openness was a trait that would lead eventually to including in YMCA’s all men, women and children, regardless of race, religion or nationality. Also, its target of meeting social need in the community was dear from the start.
Continue Reading »The WCTU was a religious organization whose primary purpose was to combat the influence of alcohol on families and society. It was influential in the temperance movement, and supported the 18th Amendment.
Continue Reading »SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INDUSTRIAL HOME SCHOOL FOR COLORED GIRLS PEAKE’S TURNOUT HANOVER COUNTY VIRGINIA FOUNDED BY The Virginia State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs 1917 BOARD OF TRUSTEES MRS. HENRY L. SCHMELZ, President, Hampton MRS. W. S. McNEILL, First Vice President, Richmond MRS. FRANK W. DARLING, Second Vice President, Hampton MRS. HARRIS BARRETT,…
Continue Reading »The residents of the Industrial School were, for the most part, delinquent or dependent colored girls sentenced to prison by local judges and then paroled to the school. There were no foster homes for colored girls who needed care and jail or prison was the only alternative. It is reported that several of the girls were “feeble minded” and a few arrived with contagious diseases…the goal of the school was to teach self-direction and character building with the expectation that… a girl could be “paroled” to a private family in the Richmond area and work for normal wages.
Continue Reading »Written by John E. Hansan, Ph.D. “Members of the University of Pennsylvania’s Christian Association (CA) founded University Settlement House in 1898…to promote ‘spiritual welfare of the students of the University of Pennsylvania by encouraging Christian fellowship and cooperation.’ The organization linked its mission for Christian advancement with such social services as operating settlement houses for the poor and providing summer camps for kids from less fortunate families in the vicinity of the University campus.
Continue Reading »During the year 1886, in the heart of the Lower East Side, upwards of 3,000 people lived in a single square block. The tenement buildings of the area normally had four apartments on each floor; a typical apartment would consist of one small room that was well-lighted and ventilated, and several others that were wholly dark, and might house a family of five or more, and perhaps a boarder.
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