Search Results for: social work

Travelers Aid

Travelers Aid By: Raymond M. Flynt, President & CEO, Travelers Aid International History: The Travelers Aid movement began in 1851 when Bryan Mullanphy, a former mayor of St. Louis and a philanthropist, bequeathed $500,000 to the City of St. Louis to be used to assist “bonifide travelers heading west.” Those funds still endow the Travelers…

Baltimore Settlements: Lawrence House and Warner House

These entries about Lawrence House and Warner House are taken from the “Handbook of Settlements,” a national survey of settlements published in 1911 by The Russell Sage Foundation of New York. This collection of detailed information about settlements throughout the nation and operating circa 1910 was collected, organized and written by two settlement pioneers: Robert Archey Woods and Albert J. Kennedy.

Hull House – circ. 1910

“Hull-House endeavors to make social intercourse express the growing sense of the economic unity of society and may be described as an effort to add the social function to democracy.”

University Settlement – 1911

This description of the University Settlement in 1910-1911 is from the Handbook of Settlements and was written by two settlement house pioneers: Robert Archey Woods and Albert J. Kennedy. The book included the findings of a national survey of all the known settlements in existence in 1910.

Elliot, John Lovejoy

John Lovejoy Elliot (December 2, 1868—April 12, 1942): Founder of Hudson Guild Settlement House and Ethical Culture Society Leader. John Lovejoy Elliot was born in Princeton, Illinois, the son of Isaac Elliot and Elizabeth (nee Denham) Lovejoy. He attended Cornell University, where he was elected as class president. In 1889 he attended an event…

Booth, Ballington

Ballington Booth (July 28, 1857 – October 5, 1940) – Evangelist, Social Welfare Advocate and Co-Founder of Volunteers of America NOTE: This entry is about the life and contributions of Ballington Booth, a co-founder of Volunteers of America. It was excerpted from the booklet “Maud and Ballington Booth: The Founding of Volunteers of America –…

Volunteers of America

This entry is about the Volunteers of America. It was excerpted from the booklet “Maud and Ballington Booth: The Founding of Volunteers of America – The Seeds of Change 1890 – 1935” authored by Anne Nixon and produced by The Human Spirit Initiative.

Booth, Maud Ballington

Maud Ballington Booth (September 13, 1865 – August 26, 1948) – Co-founder of Volunteers of America, Advocate for Prisoners and Their Families and Inaugurator of the Volunteer Prison League NOTE: This entry is about the life and contributions of Maud Ballington Booth, a co-founder of Volunteers of America. It was excerpted from the…

Mental Health America – Origins

In 1908, Clifford Whittingham Beers published his autobiography “A Mind That Found Itself.” The publication chronicled his struggle with mental illness and the shameful state of mental health care in America. In the first page of his book, Beers reveals why he wrote the book: “…I am not telling the story of my life just to write a book. I tell it because it seems my plain duty to do so. A narrow escape from death and a seemingly miraculous return to health after an apparently fatal illness are enough to make a man ask himself: For what purpose was my life spared? That question I have asked myself, and this book is, in part, an answer….”

Beers, Clifford Whittingham

This entry is about Clifford Whittingham Beers, the founder of Mental Health America and a pioneer in advocating for improved treatment of mental illness. It was excerpted from the booklet “Clifford W. Beers: The Founding of Mental Health 1908-1935” produced by The Human Spirit Initiative, an organization with a mission to inspire people to desire to make a difference and then act on it. Note: Michael Gray, working with Ted Deutsch, Deutsch Communications Group authored the narrative from which this entry is taken.