Social Welfare History Project Social Welfare Issues

Jean E. Lokerson (1937-2016)

Jean E. Lokerson, Ph.D. was an influential educator who devoted her life to the field of learning disabilities. Lokerson began her career in the 1960s, at a critical moment in the disability rights movement in the US. She became deeply involved in multiple organizations lobbying for improved education for children with learning disabilities.

Watts, Lucian Louis (1888 – 1974)

Lucian Louis Watts was a Virginia statesman who advocated for government services to support blind citizens. As the first Executive Secretary of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired, he promoted campaigns to prevent blindness, oversaw the development of educational programs for blind adults, and was instrumental in the introduction of sight-saving classes for children with impaired vision in Virginia’s public schools.

Lessons From the Real Me – Willnette Cunningham

This remembrance is excerpted from a forthcoming book by Willnette Cunningham being prepared in collaboration with Shruti Sathish, editor. Ms. Cunningham is an AIDS survivor and HIV Awareness Activist.

Precarious Learners: Race, Status and the Making of Virgin Islands Education from 1917-1970

When the United States purchased the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) from Denmark in 1917, the change in the islands’ political status profoundly impacted the educational options afforded to those residing in the territory. Being new subjects of a U.S. empire primarily concerned with preventing enemy expansion in the Caribbean basin both improved and complicated Virgin Islanders’ access to comprehensive education. For those residing in the U.S. Virgin Islands, American citizenship both exposed and exacerbated the precarious conditions of learning and belonging in a U.S. territory. Warped by a history of racialized domination and economic deprivation, education for Black Virgin Islanders has long been fraught by the conditions of precarious citizenship.

Opening of the Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children, 1909

The following is a transcription of a newspaper article published in The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) on August 15, 1909, p. 18.
The story details the opening of the first residential school for African American blind and Deaf children in Virginia.

Education of Deaf and Blind African Americans in Virginia, 1909-2008

History of Virginia’s first school for African American deaf and blind children.

Edelman, Marian Wright

By SWHP staff, 2022. Marian Wright Edelman has been recognized and celebrated for her talents and tireless advocacy on behalf of children and families. Edelman was founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF).

LGBTQIA+ Health Disparities

A very diverse group within itself, the LGBTQIA+ community contains people from every race, ethnicity, and socio-economic group. While each of these populations have their own unique needs, studies show that members of the LGBTQ community face similar challenges when it comes to seeking medical care.

National Association of Black Social Workers

By Alice W. Campbell, 2021. The National Association of Black Social Workers was founded on May 8, 1968 in San Francisco, CA.

Economic Inequality: An Introduction

By Steve Greenlaw, Ph. D., 2020. Brought up on the Declaration of Independence and the idea that all people are created equal, Americans have traditionally described themselves as living in a classless society. This classless society meant that individual effort and talent contributed to one’s place in society. The vast majority of Americans, it has been believed, are middle class. Looking at the data, however, it’s clear that economic inequality exists. But what is it? Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income (earnings) or wealth (net worth or savings) in a society.