Lucy Burns (1879 – 1966) – Suffragette and Militant Activist on Behalf of Women’s Rights Introduction: Lucy Burns was an American suffragette and women’s rights advocate. She was a close friend of Alice Stokes Paul. Together, they formed the National Woman’s Party, the militant wing of the women’s suffrage movement that utilized picketing and…
Continue Reading »As a staff member of the Presidential Committee on Economic Security in 1934, she helped formulate the specifics of the Social Security Act as it was eventually passed by Congress. She was later director of research for the Committee on Long-Range Work and Relief Policies of the National Resources Planning Board. The committee’s report published in 1942, shaped the public assistance and work programs as they developed throughout the 1940’s. Through her teaching at Columbia of comparative social security systems, she helped educate a generation of scholars in the United States who carried on important research in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Among the honors received by Dr. Burns, was a Florina Lasker Social Work Award in 1964 contributions “as an outstanding authority on social security systems throughout the world.”
Continue Reading »Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (1866-1948) Social Worker, Activist, Educator and Attorney Sophonisba Breckinridge, social worker, educator, and social activist, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, into a family with a long history of public service. Her father was a lawyer, a confederate Colonel, a US Congressman, and a staunch supporter of women’s education. Her great-grandfather was…
Continue Reading »Charles Loring Brace (June 19, 1826 – August 11, 1890): Congregational Minister, Child Welfare Advocate, Founder of the New York Children’s Aid Society and Organizer of the Orphan’s Train Introduction Charles Loring Brace was born into a well-connected New England family. At the time of his birth, his father, John Brace, was principal of…
Continue Reading »Neva Leona Boyd (1876-1963) – Social Group Worker, Professor of Sociology and Proponent of the Modern Play Movement Introduction: Neva Leona Boyd was born in Sanborn, Iowa on February 25, 1876 and she moved to Chicago after high school. Boyd enrolled in the Chicago Kindergarten Institute and then taught kindergarten in Buffalo, New York, before…
Continue Reading »Eileen A. Blackey (1902-1979) — Social Worker, Educator and Administrator Eileen A. Blackey was a social work practitioner, educator, and international consultant. She designed a pioneering in-service staff development program for emergency relief workers during the 1930s, worked with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration during World War II, and then directed staff…
Continue Reading »An educator, organizer, and policy advocate, Bethune became one of the leading civil rights activists of her era. She led a group of African American women to vote after the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution (giving women the right to vote).
Continue Reading »Fred Berl (1903-1981) — Fred Berl and the Spirit of Social Casework By Harris Chaiklin, Ph.D., Professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Social Work The few people who were lucky enough and plucky enough to escape the horror that Hitlerism and Stalinism brought to this world made great contributions to America. While…
Continue Reading »Bertram Beck (1918 – 2000) — Settlement House Director, Deputy Director NASW, Educator and Consultant Bertram Beck received a Masters in Art in Social Work in 1942 from the University of Chicago. He worked as a psychiatric social worker for the United States Air Force from 1942-1946. Elected to the original board of NASW,…
Continue Reading »Clara Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) — Teacher, Humanitarian, Nurse, Founder of American Red Cross Introduction: Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born in North Oxford, Massachusetts. Her father, Captain Stephen Barton, was a farmer, horsebreeder, and respected member of the community. Her mother, Sarah, managed the household and taught Barton the…
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