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Volunteers of America

This entry is about the Volunteers of America. It was excerpted from the booklet “Maud and Ballington Booth: The Founding of Volunteers of America – The Seeds of Change 1890 – 1935” authored by Anne Nixon and produced by The Human Spirit Initiative.

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Howard University School of Social Work

Howard University School of Social Work, Washington, D.C. By Angelique Brown, MSW Historical Context The establishment of a social work education program at Howard took place during a critical period in American history.  A time of social and financial unrest, it coincided with the Great Depression of the 1930s and, the enactment of the Social…

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Mental Health America – Origins

In 1908, Clifford Whittingham Beers published his autobiography “A Mind That Found Itself.” The publication chronicled his struggle with mental illness and the shameful state of mental health care in America. In the first page of his book, Beers reveals why he wrote the book: “…I am not telling the story of my life just to write a book. I tell it because it seems my plain duty to do so. A narrow escape from death and a seemingly miraculous return to health after an apparently fatal illness are enough to make a man ask himself: For what purpose was my life spared? That question I have asked myself, and this book is, in part, an answer….”

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Children’s Bureau – A Brief History & Resources

Written by Angelique Brown, MSW. The early 1900’s was a time in which the United States was attempting to change it stance on child labor and end abusive child labor practices. As more advocates started to address the issue, they recognized that the federal government was not yet fully engaged in addressing the physical or mental well-being needs of children

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National Child Labor Committee

In the late 1700′s and early 1800′s, power-driven machines began to replace hand labor for the making of most manufactured items. Factories sprung everywhere, first in England and then in the United States. The owners of these factories found a new source of labor to run their machines — children.

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Philadelphia Training School for Social Work – 1908

Over a hundred years, the growth and development of what became today’s School of Social Policy and Practice of the University of Pennsylvania reflects the changing environment and the evolving role of charity, philanthropy and professional social work in our society. It is therefore noteworthy to list the various names this great institution of learning has carried over time:

* 1908 — Philadelphia Training School for Social Work
* 1914 — The Pennsylvania School for Social Service
* 1921 — Pennsylvania School of Social and Health Work
* 1933 — Pennsylvania School of Social Work
* 2005 — School of Social Policy and Practice of the University of Pennsylvania.

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National Social Welfare Assembly

This organization changed its name 1n 2005 to the National Human Services Assembly. The membership of the National Assembly includes national nonprofit organizations in the health and human services field (e.g., Girl Scouts, American Red Cross, The Salvation Army). Those organizations and their constituent services networks collectively touch or are touched by nearly every household in America—as consumers of services, donors or volunteers. They comprise a $32 billion sector that employs some 800,000 workers, operating from over 150,000 locations.

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Madison House Speaks in 1916

In 1916, using personification, a very different type of progress report was prepared to describe the growth and changes experienced by Madison House over its first 18 years. Titled “The Old House Speaks” thats document is displayed here.

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