Social Welfare History Project jhansan Page 48

Model Ordinance

This Model Ordinance was developed by Leroy Allen Halbert, General Superintendent of the Kansas City Board of Public Welfare for eight years. During that time, he helped formulate plans for how other cities, counties and states could organize their own Boards of Public Welfare. For example, in a presentation to officials in Topeka, Kansas in the Spring of 1912, he said: “…small towns could not afford to have a full time trained social worker and that the proper unit for handling welfare problems for the small communities was the county and urged that probation work, truancy work, relief work, etc. should all be concentrated in the hands of a good trained social worker.”

This Model Ordinance as one of the tools he developed to assist in the creation of local departments of public welfare.

Jewish Community Council of Washington, DC

“Early History of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington (1938 – 1942),” compiled by Mrs. Henry Gichner. “The Jewish Community Council of Washington grew out of a desire on the part of many citizens for the creation of a body composed of representatives of all Jewish agencies and organizations authorized to speak for the Jewish community on matters of common concern. In 1938 the community was faced with a specific problem, that of the refugees, on which no one agency wished to set policy. “

American Labor Party: 1936

The American Labor Party of New York State enters the campaign of 1936 with a three-fold purpose, discussed in this article.

Hubert, James H.

James Henry Hubert (1886-1970) – Social Worker, Activist and Director of the New York Urban League James Henry Hubert grew up on a farm. Hubert graduated from Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA in 1910. His first teaching experience was at Simmons University, Louisville, Kentucky, in 1911; there he taught economics and sociology. While at Louisville, James…

Urbanization And The Negro: 1933

It is a significant fact that while there was a distinct loss in both Negro and white rural farm population during the past decade, the land operated by Negroes decreased by 31,835,050 acres, approximately 5,992 square miles (an area slightly larger than the combined land areas of Connecticut and Rhode Island), between 1920 and 1930. At the same time there was a very substantial increase of 34,743,840 acres, or approximately 54,287 square miles for white farm operators.

Menace Of Racial And Religious Intolerance (1925)

Presentation by Professor Charles Ellwood at the National Conference Of Social Work. Dr. Ellwood was concerned that intolerance seemed to be growing in every form of American life and he concluded that intolerance was a handicap to social progress.

Legal Background of the Social Security Act (1961)

Beginning in the early 1900’s, a number of States had started to pass State statutes designed to substitute for the old-fashioned poorhouse some kind of aid to poor people who were aged so that they could maintain their own homes. This was partly humanitarian; it was partly because soft-hearted social workers, a profession that was only just beginning, understood that many aged people couldn’t bear to be called paupers and be treated accordingly; and it was partly because when they were moved out of their homes and were put into poorhouses, It was a heart-breaking experience frequently followed by unhappy conditions. There was, however, another interest here–an influence that caused State action. It was purely economic. It was very expensive to run poorhouses.