Social Welfare History Project People Page 10

Keller, Helen — Story of My Life: Part 1

AS THE feat may seem almost incredible, it may be in order to say at the beginning that every word of this story as printed in THE JOURNAL has actually been written by Helen Keller herself — not dictated, but first written in “Braille” (raised points); then transferred to the typewriter by the wonderful girl herself; next read to her by her teacher by means of the fingers; corrected; then read again to her, and in the proof finally read to her once more.

Scott, Dred

On March 6, 1857, the United States Supreme Court finally ruled in Dred Scott v Sandford [Sanford was misspelled by a court clerk]. In a 7-2 decision written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the majority of justices said that Scott and all slaves and free blacks were not citizens of the United States and therefore had no standing in the courts. Shortly after the decision was handed down Mrs. Emerson freed Scott. The case itself led to the nullification of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, allowing the expansion of slavery into formerly free territories and the legal principle that African Americans, slave or free, were not citizens of the United States. The backlash to this decision strengthened the abolitionist movement and further divided the North and South, leading four years later to the U.S. Civil War.

Carver, George Washington

At Tuskegee, Carver launched a campaign aimed at lifting black farmers out of the desperate poverty in which most of them lived. Though his campaign ultimately failed in its aim, Carver adapted what he had learned in Ames in such a way as to put the application of its principles within reach of impoverished tenant farmers. In so doing, he anticipated the rise of organic farming and the push for the application of “appropriate technology.”

Lovejoy, Owen

Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, abolitionist, and Republican congressman from Illinois. He was also a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. After his brother Elijah Lovejoy was murdered in November 1837 by pro-slavery forces, Owen became the leader of abolitionists in Illinois.

Williams, Aubrey Willis

Aubrey Willis Williams (August 23, 1890 – March 5, 1965): Social Worker, Civil Rights Activist and Director of the National Youth Administration During the New Deal. Editor’s Note: This entry is copied from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (April 28, 2014) Aubrey Williams was born in Springville, Alabama, on August 23, 1890.[1] He grew up in…

Wickenden, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Wickenden (1909 – 2001): Administrator of New Deal Programs, Independent Consultant on Social Security and Social Welfare Programs Elizabeth Wickenden, daughter of William E. and Marian (Lamb) Wickenden, was born in 1909, in Madison, Wisconsin. She grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and Boston, Massachusetts, where William Wickenden was an assistant professor at MIT….

Ovington, Mary White

Mary White Ovington (1865–1951), was a social worker and writer. A white socialist, she was a principal NAACP founder and officer for almost forty years.

Schneiderman, Rose

“Rose Schneiderman, the labor organizer who taught Eleanor Roosevelt everything she ‘knew about trade unionism.’”

Turner, Henry McNeal

Henry McNeal Turner (1834 1915): Minister, Chaplin in the Union Army and Advocate for Emigration to Liberia

Hughes, Langston

Hughes deeply believed that black art should represent the experiences and culture of the black “folk.” Images of rural and urban working-class African Americans filled his poetry and prose and his writing celebrated blues and jazz culture. Some of his more famous writing associated with the Harlem Renaissance include the collections of poems, The Weary Blues (1926) and Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927); the novel Not Without Laughter (1930); and the essay, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” (1926).