Actually, the role of concerned citizens in providing public recreational programs began in the United States as far back as 1885. Unfortunately, although the history of this involvement is spotted with some progressive movement, on the whole lackadaisical developments have failed to keep pace with changes in cultural and social patterns that occur when one ethnic group moves into a community replacing another. In 1885, for example, the first efforts to improve recreational facilities for the underprivileged were led by Joseph Lee, who was shocked to see boys arrested for playing in Boston streets; George E. Johnson was moved at the pathos of the attempts of little children to play in the narrow crowded alleys in Pittsburgh.
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NCSW Part 8: A Century of Concern 1873-1973: Bibliography
This bibliography was an important part of the pamphlet published by the National Conference of Social Welfare on the occasion of its 100th Anniversary. The bibliography covers the Introduction written by Clarke Chambers as well as the six essays written by leaders in the field of social welfare.
Continue Reading »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.
Continue Reading »NCSW Part 1: A Century of Concern 1873-1973: Table of Contents, Introduction
In emphasis, the National Conference of Social Welfare – like the serving professions themselves who constituted its membership – has swung between the pleas of social action and social service. Its presidents have been selected from among those who can best be understood as social prophets – Jane Addams and Whitney Young, for example – and from among those who had made technical contributions of surpassing importance to the better service of health, education, and welfare – Homer Folks, for example, and Dr. Richard Cabot. Its leaders Conference Presidents and Conference Secretaries alike, and all that great host of program committee members, panel participants, and executive officers – have most often, however, combined a concern for the reform of social evils with a commitment to more effective service. Such persons engaged in attempts to create a synthesis between the two phases on the grounds that they were not, ultimately, mutually exclusive or contradictory, but mutually supportive and complementary.
Continue Reading »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.”
Continue Reading »Schiff, Philip: An Address 1954
Address by Phil Schiff at The Annual Meeting of Alumni and Friends of Madison House, Inc. “When did we come in? Where are we? Where are we going? Where did we come in?”
Continue Reading »Legal Background of the Social Security Act (1961)
Beginning in the early 1900’s, a number of States had started to pass State statutes designed to substitute for the old-fashioned poorhouse some kind of aid to poor people who were aged so that they could maintain their own homes. This was partly humanitarian; it was partly because soft-hearted social workers, a profession that was only just beginning, understood that many aged people couldn’t bear to be called paupers and be treated accordingly; and it was partly because when they were moved out of their homes and were put into poorhouses, It was a heart-breaking experience frequently followed by unhappy conditions. There was, however, another interest here–an influence that caused State action. It was purely economic. It was very expensive to run poorhouses.
Continue Reading »Winant, John G.
Winant was a lifelong Republican whose humanitarian principles transcended party lines. Influenced by the writings of Charles Dickens and John Ruskin and inspired by the examples of Lincoln
and Theodore Roosevelt, he was as governor a forceful advocate of progressive reform initiatives, including a 48-hour work week for women and children, a minimum wage, and the abolition of capital punishment. In 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him the first chairman of the Social Security Board.
Roots of Social Security – Frances Perkins
Before I was appointed, I had a little conversation with Roosevelt in which I said perhaps he didn’t want me to be the Secretary, of Labor because if I were, I should want to do this, and this, and this. Among the things I wanted to do was find a way of getting unemployment insurance, old-age insurance, and health insurance. I remember he looked so startled, and he said, “Well, do you think it can be done?”
I said, “I don’t know.” He said, Well, there are constitutional problems, aren’t there?” “Yes, very severe constitutional problems,” I said. “But what have we been elected for except to solve the constitutional problems? Lots of other problems have been solved by the people of the United States, and there is no reason why this one shouldn’t be solved.”
“Well,” he said, “do you think you can do it?” “I don’t know, ” I said But I wanted to try. “I want to know if I have your authorization. I won’t ask you to promise anything.” He looked at me and nodded wisely. “All right,” he said, “I will authorize you to try, and if you succeed, that’s fine.”
Continue Reading »Jane Addams on the Subtle Problems of Charity (1899)
“The Subtle Problems of Charity,” an article written by Jane Addams, Founder of Hull House in Chicago, The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 83, Issue 496, February 1899
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