Social Welfare History Project Mike.Barga Page 3

NCSW Part 1: A Century of Concern 1873-1973: Table of Contents, Introduction

In emphasis, the National Conference of Social Welfare – like the serving professions themselves who constituted its membership – has swung between the pleas of social action and social service. Its presidents have been selected from among those who can best be understood as social prophets – Jane Addams and Whitney Young, for example – and from among those who had made technical contributions of surpassing importance to the better service of health, education, and welfare – Homer Folks, for example, and Dr. Richard Cabot. Its leaders Conference Presidents and Conference Secretaries alike, and all that great host of program committee members, panel participants, and executive officers – have most often, however, combined a concern for the reform of social evils with a commitment to more effective service. Such persons engaged in attempts to create a synthesis between the two phases on the grounds that they were not, ultimately, mutually exclusive or contradictory, but mutually supportive and complementary.

Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul

Written by Michael Barga. “Originally founded in France, a congregation of sisters was started in Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1809 by Elizabeth Ann Seton which would later become associated with the Daughters of Charity in 1850. The congregation, dedicated to work in social ministry and education, was the first sisterhood founded in the United States.”

American Social Hygiene Association: Youth and Life Posters (1922)

The “Youth and Life” posters were designed to educate teenage girls and young women about the dangers of sexual promiscuity and urge them to embrace moral and physical fitness. It was adapted in 1922 by the American Social Hygiene Association from “Keeping Fit,” a similar series for boys and young men.

American Social Hygiene Association: Keeping Fit Posters II (1919)

“Keeping Fit” was a 48-poster series produced by the American Social Hygiene Association in collaboration with the U.S. Public Health Service and the YMCA in 1919. It was designed to educate teenage boys and young men about the dangers of sexual promiscuity and urged them to embrace moral and physical fitness. A parallel series, “Youth and Life” was designed for girls and young women.

American Social Hygiene Association: Keeping Fit Posters I (1919)

Christ Child Society

Written by Michael Barga. “The Christ Child Society was founded in Mary Virginia Merrick’s home at the end of the 19th century as a small relief organization which sewed clothes for local underprivileged children.”

Children’s Bureau: Part II

Written by: Dorothy E. Bradbury, Assistant Director, Division of Reports Children’s Bureau. “In getting underway–and in carrying out the three children’s pro-grams for which it was given responsibility under the Social Security Act–the Bureau in characteristic fashion turned to advisory groups for advice and guidance. Advisory groups were immediately set up for each of the programs. For the most part, these were professional people concerned with the technical aspects of the program.”

Children’s Bureau: Part I

Written by Dorothy E. Bradbury, Assistant Director, Division of Reports Children’s Bureau. “This is the story of the Children’s Bureau of the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from the idea in 1903 to its founding in 1912 and on through the years to the present time.”

Merrick, Mary Virginia

Mary Virginia Merrick: Catholic Social Reformer, Philanthropist (1866-1955) by Michael Barga Introduction: Mary Virginia Merrick suffered a life-changing spinal cord injury in her early years but overcame this obstacle to make a significant contribution to social welfare, a rarity for people with disabilities in her time. Merrick’s devout Catholic faith led her to charitable and…