Recollections
This section includes articles written from a variety of points of view, and some personal recollections relevant to the history of American social welfare programs, issues, and personalities.
- The Power of Group Work with Kids - Andrew Malekoff, CEO, North Shore Child and Family Guidance CenterSocial group work’s origins are rooted by melding three early twentieth century social movements: the settlement house movement, progressive education movement and recreation movement (Breton, 1990). What all three have in common is the conviction that people have much to offer to improve the quality of their lives.
- The Scientific View of Social Work - Harris Chaiklin, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Social WorkSince its inception social work has struggled with the questions of the extent to which it should use and it could have confidence in basing practice on knowledge derived from the social and biological sciences. The Scientific Basis of Social Work is a volume that gives an emphatic yes to this query
- Towle, Charlotte: A Perspective - Linda Gordon, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of History, New York UniversityCharlotte Towle came into my work accidentally and peripherally. I saw her from a variety of standpoints she didn't share: as an historian, as a feminist, as a citizen of the Reagan era--although her experiences with McCarthyism would have given her some preparation for the last.
- Triangle Waist Company FireThe fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers, is one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This incident has had great significance to this day because it highlights the inhumane working conditions to which industrial workers can be subjected. To many, its horrors epitomize the extremes of industrialism. The tragedy still dwells in the collective memory of the nation and of the international labor movement. The victims of the tragedy are still celebrated as martyrs at the hands of industrial greed.
- What is Social Welfare History?Social welfare history reflects the lives of people living, being educated, working and voting in the nation. It is an interdisciplinary study of the evolution of charitable works, organized activities related to social reform movements and non-profit or public social services designed to protect or benefit individuals, families and citizens of the larger society.
- When Budgeting Was A Casework Process - Harris Chaiklin, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Social WorkThe people who staffed the Charity Organization Society made major contributions to the growth of social casework. It was not a development they eagerly embraced. Their goal was to provide material relief after a thorough investigation of who was or was not entitled to help. They gradually found that confirming need and certifying moral worth did not achieve the rehabilitation results they desired.
- Wilbur J. Cohen and the Expansion of Social Security - Edward Berkowitz, Ph.D. , Professor of History and Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University, Washington, DCWe tend to think of the expansion of social security as something impersonal and bureaucratic. It is almost as if the program expanded by itself. The basic old-age insurance program never posed issues that defined the political or cultural character of an era. Yet we know that the process of social security's growth was neither smooth nor straight forward.
- Wilbur J. Cohen And The New Frontier - Edward Berkowitz, Ph.D., Professor of History and Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University, Washington, DCWhen Wilbur Cohen went from Madison to Washington, D.C. in 1934, he traveled by car and bus. Twenty-seven years later, when he went from another midwestern university town to Washington, he flew. In both cases, he left academia to seek work in a Democratic administration. In both cases, he helped first to create and then to gain Congressional approval for a broad range of social welfare programs.
- Women at the HelmLet me now sum up why I think these three women were great and, as or forebears, worthy of admiration and emulation. First, a caveat. They were not great because they were women. We can be proud they were women, but the qualities that marked them for greatness are not sex related. They were great because they had powerful minds, which they never ceased to sharpen with new knowledge and new experiences....They were great because they cared about what happened to people and they believed in the worth and dignity of ever living creature....They were great because they were fighters. They preserved against great obstacles – obstacles they faced as women and obstacles generated by their advanced ideas.