Social Welfare History Project People Page 25

Sanger, Margaret

Margaret (nee: Higgins) Sanger risked scandal, danger, and imprisonment to challenge the legal and cultural obstacles that made controlling fertility difficult and illegal. Ms. Sanger viewed birth control as a woman’s issue and she was prepared to take on the medical establishment, the churches, the legislatures, and the courts. She was persuasive, tireless, single-minded, and unafraid of a fight. On October 16,1916 she opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn, was arrested, and served thirty days for distributing information about contraceptives. From that experience, Sanger moved on to assume leadership of the struggle for free access to birth control. In 1921 she founded the American Birth Control League, the precursor to the Planned Parenthood Federation, and spent her next three decades campaigning to bring safe and effective birth control into the American mainstream.

Roosevelt, Theodore

Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858–January 6, 1919): 26th President of the United States, First American to Receive the Nobel Peace Prize and a Progressive In 1886 Roosevelt once more entered into politics. President Harrison, after his election in 1889, appointed Roosevelt as a member of the Civil Service Commission of which he later became…

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) — 32nd President of the United States 1933-1945 Childhood and Youth Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, New York in 1882 at “Springwood,” his family’s country estate amid the rolling hills and pastoral splendor of the Hudson Valley. Descendants of Dutch…

Randall, Ollie A.

Ollie A. Randall (1890-1984) — Social Worker, Welfare Administrator and Advocate for the Aging Introduction: Ollie A. Randall had a long career as a social worker, welfare administrator, lecturer, consultant, writer, and advocate for the aging. She worked for the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor (later Community Service Society) in New…

Phillips, Wilbur C.

Wilbur C. Phillips (1880 — 1967) — Advocate of Child Health and Hygiene and Founder of the National Social Unit Organization Wilbur Carey Phillips was born March 10, 1880, in Nunda, New York, and educated at Colgate Academy and Harvard University, graduating from the latter in 1904. He worked as secretary of the New…

Perry, Fredericka Douglass Sprague

Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry (1872-1943): Child Welfare Pioneer Fredericka Douglass Sprague Perry was the granddaughter of the famous abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. She and her husband, Dr. James E. Perry helped to provide better health care to African American children in Kansas City, Missouri. During this period, many African American children suffered from poor nutrition and…

Paul, Alice Stokes

Alice Paul (1885 – 1977): Social Worker, Militant Activist and Suffragette Introduction: Alice Stokes Paul was the architect of some of the most outstanding political achievements on behalf of women in the 20th century. Born on January 11, 1885 to Quaker parents in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, Alice Paul dedicated her life to the…

Nation, Carrie A.

Carrie Amelia Nation was perhaps the most famous person to emerge from the temperance movement—the battles against alcohol in pre-Prohibition America—due to her habit of attacking saloons with a hatchet.

Morris, Robert

Robert Morris (1910-2005): Educator, Author, Policy Analyst and Social Gerontologist Robert “Bob” Morris had a profound influence on long-term care policies and available services for the elderly as well as greater understanding of social welfare issues. His research, many consultations, appointments, and prolific writings all contributed to an appreciation of the importance of social…