Jacob Riis (May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914): Journalist, Photographer, Social Reformer By Catherine A. Paul “‘Are you not looking too much to the material condition of these people,’ said a good minister to me after a lecture in a Harlem church last winter, ‘and forgetting the inner man?’ I told him, ‘No! For you…
Continue Reading »1955 National Association of Social Workers founded by a merger of seven social work membership groups. 1962 Michael Harrington’s The Other America is published, awakening the American public to the nation’s increasing level of poverty. 1963 March on Washington DC for Jobs and Freedom 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed. Title II and Title…
Continue Reading »Editor’s Note: All items are in chronological order in the year under which they are listed. 1902 The first State workmen’s compensation law is enacted in Maryland; it was declared unconstitutional in 1904. Homer Folks, founder and head of the New York State Charities Aid Association publishes Care of Destitute, Neglected and Delinquent Children. Conversion…
Continue Reading »1851 Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) organized in Boston, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act Adopted. 1852 New York Childrens Aid Society is founded by Charles Loring Brace and began sending abandoned children to homes and farms in the Western U.S. 1855 The Government Hospital for the Insane established (later became St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of…
Continue Reading »1803 The first permanent Marine hospital is authorized to be built in Boston, Massachusetts. 1816 The New York Society for the Prevention of Poverty is established. The organization was to identify and eliminate the specific causes of poverty in New York City. 1817 Gallaudet University for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the first free U.S….
Continue Reading »1729 Establishment of the first orphanage for girls founded by the Ursuline Sisters in New Orleans to care for survivors of a nearby massacre 1751 The Pennsylvania Hospital is founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin “…to care for the sick-poor and insane who were wandering the streets of Philadelphia.” 1773 First…
Continue Reading »1601 Enactment of the English Poor Law, requiring parish governments to tax households in order to care for the “worthy” poor. A system of public “outdoor” relief that was carried to the Colonies. 1619 First Africans arrive in Virginia as indentured servants for plantation owners. 1624 Virginia Colony passes the first legislation recognizing services and…
Continue Reading »Dorothea Lange was one of the leading documentary photographers of the Depression and arguably the most influential. Some of her pictures were reproduced so repeatedly and widely that they became commonly understood symbols of the human suffering caused by the economic disaster. At the same time her work functioned to create popular support for New Deal programs.
Continue Reading »In 1963, Dr. King led a massive civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Ala., and organized drives for black voter registration, desegregation, and better education and housing throughout the South. During these nonviolent campaigns he was arrested several times, generating newspaper headlines throughout the world. In June, President John F. Kennedy reacted to the Birmingham protests by submitting broad civil rights legislation to Congress. Dr. King was the final speaker at the historic March on Washington DC (August 28, 1963), where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In June the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Also in 1964, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Continue Reading »Despite her initial intent to focus on her social activities as First Lady, political issues soon became a central part of the weekly briefings. When some women reporters assigned to ER tried to caution her to speak off the record, she responded that she knew some of her statements would “cause unfavorable comment in some quarters . . . but I am making these statements on purpose to arouse controversy and thereby get the topics talked about.”
Continue Reading »