Alice Davis Menken (1870-1936): Social Worker, Pioneer In Penology, Jewish Activist and Humanitarian   Alice Davis Menken was the third of seven children of an old Sephardic Jewish family. She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Involvement in helping people came first through her helping to establish the Sisterhood of…

Rachel B. Marks (1911 – April 13, 1998): Social Worker, Professor, Author and Co-Founder of the Social Welfare History Group Rachel Marks A. M. ’44, Ph. D. ’50, was a social work educator and proponent of social work history. After experiences as a case worker and then teaching in Virginia and Brazil, at Indiana University…

Christina Isobel MacColl (December 1864 – 1939): Founder of Christodora House on the Lower East Side of New York By June Hopkins, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Armstrong Atlantic State University There have been countless lives lived by women who had a very significant and enduring impact on the direction of history. Many of these women exercised…

Abraham Lurie (1917-  ): Social Worker, Mental Health Advocate, Educator, Researcher and Author Lurie is one of the great innovators in social work. His programs in psychiatry, health care, and discharge planning are known throughout the world. His substance of contributions to the re-socialization of schizophrenics and to the application of group methods in health…

Carrie Steele Logan (1829-1900): Child Welfare Advocate and Provider Carrie Steele worked as an individual to care for abandoned children, first in her own home and later in orphanage she built by selling her house. Her orphan home founded in 1888 still exists today in Atlanta, Georgia as a private institution renamed the Carrie Steele-Pitt…

Sophie Irene Loeb (July 4, 1876–1929):  Child Welfare Advocate, Social Welfare Reformer, Journalist and Author.   During the Progressive Era, Sophie Loeb was one of many women to enter the political arena through reform work, calling for government involvement to mitigate the problems of poverty. Loeb brought her life experience and her personalized approach to…

Eduard C. Lindeman (May 9, 1885 — April 13, 1953) — Philosopher, Teacher, Scholar and Social Reformer   Early Years: Eduard C. Lindeman was born in 1885 in St.Claire, Michigan, one of ten children, of an impoverished immigrant family of German speaking Danes. His father died when he was a young boy and he spent…