Social Welfare History Project Social Work

Social Work in Divisive Times: Navigating Dual Roles Across Eras and Movements

Social work is often celebrated for its commitment to social justice, aiding vulnerable populations, and driving societal change. Yet, this narrative too frequently fails to grapple with the darker elements of the profession’s past—namely, the instances where it has caused harm to those it intended to help. Throughout its history, social work has not only offered support and advocacy but has also, at times, played a role in perpetuating injustices and societal harms.

Ora Brown Stokes and the Richmond Neighborhood Association

Ora Brown Stokes founded and was the driving force behind the Richmond Neighborhood Association (RNA), an organization which has received little attention despite its centrality to social welfare work among Richmond’s African Americans between 1912 and 1924, particularly among children and young women.

World War II and the Social Work Profession: The Veterans Administration Response to Crisis

With the entry of the United States into World War II and extending throughout the 1940s, there developed a tremendous need for medical and psychiatric social workers. A crisis existed within the profession to which the Veterans Administration responded. The VA became the largest employer of social workers in the nation.

Maclachlan, H. D. C.

H. D. C. Maclachlan Social reformer, community leader and advocate for juvenile courts Alice W. Campbell January 3, 2022 Hugh David Cathcart Maclachlan, D. D. (1869-1929) was born March 16, 1869 in Barrhead, Renfrewshire, Scotland. As a young man, he earned A. M. and B. L. degrees from the University of Glasgow. Then, in…

National Association of Black Social Workers

By Alice W. Campbell, 2021. The National Association of Black Social Workers was founded on May 8, 1968 in San Francisco, CA.

Conversation at Buffalo (1939)

A fictional conversation in which three delegates to the National Conference on Social Work discuss the effects of segregation and racism on African American social workers.