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…

Amanda Peck served as Assistant Director for External Affairs and Donor Relations  for University Settlement and its subsidiary organization: The Door (2008 – 2015). 

Angelique Brown, MSW In 1999, Ms. Brown received her MSW from the National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS) at the Catholic University of America.  Her focus since receiving her degree has been child welfare, where she has worked in a variety of settings including a nonprofit organization, local government, and as a contractor for…

Christopher Brick is Director and Editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, a research center that collects, annotates, and publishes selected volumes of Eleanor Roosevelt’s political correspondence from 1945-1962. He holds a B.A. in History and International Affairs from The George Washington University, and an M.A. in History from Brown University, where he is currently completing…

Betsy Schaefer Vourlekis, Ph.D. is professor emeritus of social work at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She received her B.A. from Harvard University, majoring in East Asian History, M.S.W. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Maryland, College Park. She practiced psychiatric social work at St. Elizabeths…

Paul H. Stuart, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of the School of Social Work, Florida International University, Miami. He is the co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005). His fields of interest include the history of social work and social welfare and federal Indian policy. His publications…

Wilma Peebles-Wilkins, Ph.D., is Dean Emeritus at Boston University and a former scholar at the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University. She served for several years as Dean, Boston University School of Social Work, Boston, MA. Dr. Peebles-Wilkins has written and published extensively on the history of Blacks in American social welfare. Among her…

John Sorensen is the Executive Director of the Abbott Sisters Project and the co-editor of The Grace Abbott Reader (2008) for the University of Nebraska Press. He has organized major Abbott events for the New York Public Library, the Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Public Radio, etc. The Abbott Sisters Project is a not-for-profit operation (active since…

Catherine (Katy) Papell  (d. 2013) was involved in social work activities since 1940. A 1937 graduate of the University of Michigan, Dr. Papell received a Master’s of Arts degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1938 and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. She was awarded a Doctorate of…