Biography of Katherine Stuart van Wormer, MSSW, Ph.D., a Professor of Social Work at the University of Northern Iowa.

Laura J. Praglin, Ph.D., LMSW is an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Northern Iowa. Her research and teaching interests include the history of social work, especially the interaction of the early social work profession with other civicand religious organizations.

Christopher J. Anderson is Head of Public Service and Reference Librarian at Princeton Theological Seminary. Previously, he served as Special Collections Librarian and Curator of the Day Missions Collection at Yale University. From 2007 to 2017 he was Associate Dean of Libraries and Head of Special Collections, Archives, and Methodist Librarian at the Drew University…

James W. Trent, Jr. is Professor of Sociology and Social Work at Gordon College, Wenham, Mass. He completed his Ph.D. at Brandeis University. His scholarly research lies in the history of marginalized and disenfranchised groups. His most recent book is The Manliest Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of Nineteenth Century American Reform (2012). With Steven Noll, he edited Mental Retardation in America: A Historical Reader (2004). He is also the author of Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States (1994) that won the 1995 Hervey B. Wilbur Award of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Linda S. Stuhler is the author of The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900,  A Genealogy Resource, and creator of the blog with the same title. She was instrumental in drafting bill S2514-2013, introduced into the New York State Senate in March 2011, and re-introduced in January 2013. If passed, this bill would allow the release…

Dale A. Masi, Ph.D., LCSW-C, CEAP, is Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, where she chaired the Employee Assistance Specialization.  Dr. Masi is a Resident Scholar at Catholic University where she directs the EAP International Online Certificate Program. She is President and CEO of Masi Research Consultants, Inc., a Boston company specializing in Employee Assistance Program…

Deborah McNally received her Ph.D. in History in 2013 from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she is currently a lecturer. Her primary field is early American history and the nineteenth-century.  She received her B.A. from the University of Washington in 2003, cum laude with distinction in History, and her M.A. in 2006. Debbie’s interests…

Mary Lou Ricker Mall contributed information and original materials about her grandfather Leroy Allen Halbert. Currently Mary’s home is the repository for much of the original writing of Rev. Leroy Allen Halbert. Her grandfather was the inspiration for her interest in a career in the helping professions. Mary has degrees in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from…

Jeanne Schiff Talpers, daughter of Philip Schiff,  wrote essays on Madison House as a way to  discover her father’s passion for social action.  His early death at age 56 left many unanswered questions, but fortunately the archives of Madison House at the Social Welfare Archives of the University of Minnesota brought “the House” and her…

Michael J. Barga is a 2013 graduate of Catholic University’s MSW Program with a Clinical Health Concentration. He previously earned a B.A. in History and Music from Mount St. Mary’s University (2009).  Upon graduation, he served as a Mercy Volunteer with the homeless outreach team of Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia until 2010.  When his year of…