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Social Work At Massachusetts General Hospital: 1908

Ida Maud Cannon was responsible for developing the first social work department in a hospital in the United States. Convinced that medical practice could not be effective without examining the link between illness and the social conditions of the patient Cannon diligently worked at creating the field of medical social work. During her long career, she worked as a nurse, a social worker, Chair of Social Services at Massachusetts General Hospital, author of a seminal book in the medical social work field, organizer of the American Association of Hospital Social Workers, consultant to hospitals and city administrations throughout the United States, professor and designer of a training curriculum for medical social workers.

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Social Unit Plan

The social unit plan aims to bring about a genuine and efficient democracy by showing the rank and file how to secure for themselves a clear idea of their own needs and by helping them to organize for the satisfaction of those needs the best skill and the wisest advice available. Practical health work is the point of attack because it is one of the sorest immediate needs and the one of which people are most conscious.

The laboratory chosen for the working out of this new concept of democracy is a typical district of Cincinnati containing approximately fifteen thousand people. In this district, under the control of the citizens who reside in it and with the co-operation of citizens throughout the entire city as well as of the city government, it is planned to develop an organization which, if successful, may later, with minor modifications, be capable of application in other sections of the city and in cities throughout the country.

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Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, OH

Written by Michael Barga. “The work of the SCCs includes the creation of orphanages, schools, and hospitals… SCCs make vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience to God and strive to live simply, be in solidarity with the poor, and embrace multiculturalism in ministry and membership.”

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Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY

Written by Michael Barga. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky (SCNs) are a religious order in the Catholic Church whose social concern and traditional spirituality stem from Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac. Their initial local efforts in education, health care, and social service have expanded to the international level today.

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Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul

Written by Michael Barga. “Originally founded in France, a congregation of sisters was started in Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1809 by Elizabeth Ann Seton which would later become associated with the Daughters of Charity in 1850. The congregation, dedicated to work in social ministry and education, was the first sisterhood founded in the United States.”

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American Social Hygiene Association: Keeping Fit Posters II (1919)

“Keeping Fit” was a 48-poster series produced by the American Social Hygiene Association in collaboration with the U.S. Public Health Service and the YMCA in 1919. It was designed to educate teenage boys and young men about the dangers of sexual promiscuity and urged them to embrace moral and physical fitness. A parallel series, “Youth and Life” was designed for girls and young women.

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American Social Hygiene Association: Keeping Fit Posters I (1919)

“Keeping Fit” was a 48-poster series produced by the American Social Hygiene Association in collaboration with the U.S. Public Health Service and the YMCA in 1919. It was designed to educate teenage boys and young men about the dangers of sexual promiscuity and urged them to embrace moral and physical fitness. A parallel series, “Youth and Life” was designed for girls and young women.

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American Social Hygiene Association Relationship to Community Welfare

“The American Social Hygiene Association…extends its service to individuals and to private and public organizations interested in any phase of social hygiene work. For practical administration, it is divided into five departments: legal measures, medical measures, protective measures, recreational measures, educational measures, and public information.”

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