The Creation
of Women in
Social
Welfare
By: Joy MacMurchy, Tami Moody, Ashley
Burkhardsmeier, Brandi Burkhardsmeier
“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate
to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent
when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer
flow into our souls.”
Born eighth of eleven children in Johnstown, New York in which five of
her siblings died in early childhood or infancy
Stanton's father, was a prominent attorney who served one term in the
Congress and later became a judge which planted the earliest seeds which
grew into her legal and social activism
Mother was distant in childhood after she fell into severe depression from
loss of so many children
Attended Jamestown Academy and studied
Latin, Greek, and mathematics until age 16 and
went on to Troy Female Seminary
Christian background but soon feared her
damnation and left Christianity for a view that
ethics are the best guide for thought and behavior
Married abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton in
1840 and had six children
• Her father’s statement, "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!“
showed her that her own father valued men more than women.
• Encounters with fugitive slaves at the home of her cousin Gerrit Smith
• Sexual discrimination when young men that she surpassed
academically went on to Union College but she could not because they
were only accepting men
• Lucretia Mott’s exclusion from being an abolitionist delegate, even after
all of her hard work
• Over a glass of tea and a discussion with friends, Stanton raised her
concerns regarding the extreme limitations on women under America’s
new democracy. She found it amazingly ironic that the American
Revolution had just been fought seventy years prior in order to gain
freedom, yet women were not included in this American freedom.
Within two days of this conversation, a meeting had been announced
for women to gather and discuss how changes could be made.
• Outraged when the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in
London, in 1840, denied official standing to women
delegates. Stanton formed the first women’s rights
meeting in the U.S. in 1848.
• 240 Supporters, including 40 men attended
• Wrote Declaration of Sentiments
– “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women
are created equal…”
– Addressed inalienable right to freedom, lack of voice and voting
rights, leadership roles, reform of marital and property laws,
education and employment discrimination, exclusion from church
ministry, a woman’s life belongs to God, different moral standards
for men and women, and overall suffrage of women
• Abolitionist
• Temperance Movement
– Woman’s State
Temperance Society
(1852-53)
• Lobbied for Ratification
of 14th and 15th
Amendment
 Founded in 1869, based in New York
Stanton was first President and Susan B. Anthony was first Vice President
Opposed passage of the fifteenth amendment
without it being changed to include female suffrage,
unlike American Woman Suffrage Association which
supported Amendment as written
Focused attention on voting rights and admittance of
working women into labor unions
In 1890 the NWSA merged with AWSA to form the
National American Women Suffrage Association
(NAWSA)
 The organization started to try and win support
through a state-by-state approach rather than
nationally
Became the most mainstream and nationally visible
pro-suffrage group
“The best protection any woman can have . . . is courage.”
Married Woman’s Property Act, 1848
Allowed women to hold property, gain custody of children,
make contracts, keep earnings and inheritance, and sue in court
Equal guardianship of children
Divorce laws
Women could leave marriages that were abusive to the wife,
the children, or the economic health of the family
The Woman’s Bible
Helped publish the first three volumes of the History of Woman
Suffrage
Impacted passage of Women’s Suffrage Amendment
Active in European Women’s Movement
Founder of women’s rights newsletter, The Revolution
Julia Lathrop
“It is doubtful that many people strolling through a
book store or reading publishers’ advertisements will
recognize the name of Julia Lathrop, yet she was on of
the people who shaped the social and political history of
the United States.” –Jane Addams
BACKGROUND ON JULIA LATHROP
•Born in Rockford, Illinois-1858
•Began her college education at Rockford Seminary
for a year
•She then transferred to Vasser College-she received
her degree in 1880
•After she graduated she worked as a secretary in
her father’s law office. This is when she became
interested in the treatment of the mentally ill, equal
rights for women and social reform
JULIA LATHROP AND THE HULL HOUSE
•In 1890 Julia joined Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Star
at the Hull House in Chicago
•She spent the next 22 years there
•She led organizations to increase public knowledge on
child welfare, social work, immigrant protection and the
mentally ill
•Plato Club-the large amount of members were elderly
men who debated philosophical and religious matters
•Soon Julia Lathrop became an asset to the Hull House
Organization
The Hull House created by Jane Addams was made to offer not only food
and shelter but also to bring about education to those of the lower class.
They also attempted to help immigrants adapt to the American way of
life. This settlement tried to bring equality to the social classes by having
the well educated live among the poor, so they begin to know them
directly.
Illinois Board of Charities
•In 1893--1st woman to receive a state position of the
Illinois Board of Charities, this was appointed by
Governor Altgeld
•In her work with the board, Lathrop visited many
facilities in and around Chicago, that housed people who
were mentally ill, aged, sick, or disabled. She advocated
that separate facilities should be established that would
attend to these specific groups.
“My picture of Miss Lathrop is characterized by her eagerness to
let youth speak for itself—and speak with her sympathetic support
close at hand. She gave youth her friendship and faith. She gave
to youth as to all others credit for the accomplishments she herself
inspired.”
—Mrs. Kenneth Rich
The Creation of the Children's Bureau
Julia C. Lathrop, first Chief of the Children's Bureau
The Children's Bureau was formally created in 1912 when President
William Howard Taft signed into law a bill creating the new federal
government organization. The stated purpose of the new Bureau was to
investigate and report "upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of
children and child life among all classes of our people."
Julia Lathrop
•In 1912 Julia moved to Washington D.C.
where she was appointed Chief to the Federal
Children’s Bureau
•The reasoning for appointing her was
because she was an educator, State Board of
Charities member, and Hull House insider
who had read law in her father’s office and
visited every state institution and almshouse
in Illinois.
•She made issues like child labor laws and
juvenile delinquency.
The Children’s Bureau Today
-a nonprofit organization that receives funding
from the U.S. Department of health and services.
This is all a direct result of Julia Lathrop’s hard
work and dedication.
-The Children’s Bureau protects children from
neglect and abuse and also offers family services,
adoption, and foster care.
Through the Efforts of Julia, the
Sheppard-Towner Act of 1921 was
realized-a law which provided grants for
state use in the health care of mothers and
children.
Lathrop resigned from the Children’s
Bureau position in 1922, and went to live
with her sister in Rockford, Illinois
From 1925-1931, she participated as a
member of the Child Welfare Committee
of the League of Nations.
Until her death in 1932, she fought against
the capital punishment of juveniles.
JANE ADDAMS
Biography
• Born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860
• She was the youngest of eight children
• Her mother died when she was three years old, her father
remarrying in 1868
• She is most well-known for founding the world famous
social settlement Hull-House in Chicago, Illinois
• She also built her reputation as one of America’s most
prominent women through her writings and her
international efforts for world peace
• Died in Chicago, Illinois on May 21, 1935
Accomplishments
• She graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary in
Rockford, Illinois in 1882, as valedictorian of her class
• In 1889 she and Ellen Gates Starr co-founded Hull-House
• In 1899 she gave a Democracy or Militarism speech in
front of the Chicago Liberty Meeting
• Along with workers, she lobbied the state of Illinois to
examine laws governing child labor, the factory inspection
system, and the juvenile justice system
• She began to form the juvenile court system, because she
felt it was unfair to try adolescents as adults
• The first juvenile court opened in 1899 in Chicago
• By 1920, only three states did not have juvenile courts
Accomplishments
• In 1905 she was appointed Chicago's
Board of Education and chairman of
School Management Committee
• She was elected the first woman at the
National Conference of Social Work in
1905
• In 1906 she wrote Newer Ideals of Peace,
which discussed problems with the
military among civilians
• She helped found Chicago School of
Civics and Philanthropy in 1908
• In 1909 she was the first woman president
of National Conference of Charities and
Corrections
Accomplishments
• In addition to her involvement in the American AntiImperialist League and the American Sociology
Association, she was also an influential member of both
the American Civil Liberties Union and the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP)
• In 1911 she helped to establish the National Foundation of
Settlements and Neighborhood Centers and became its first
president
• Her first book was released in 1910, followed by two every
year
• Her biggest success in writing came with the release of the
book, Twenty Years at Hull House, this became her
autobiography
Accomplishments
• She received the first honorary degree given to a woman
by Yale University in 1910
• In 1910 she was the first female president of the National
Conference of Charities and Corrections (NCCC) which
she gave 18 papers from 1897-1933
• In 1911 she was the first vice-president of National
American Women suffrage Association
• She campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt and the
Progressive Party and seconded his nomination for
President of the Progressive Party
• In 1913 she was elected second to Thomas Edison in
Independent magazine's poll for "Who Was the Most
Useful American"
Accomplishments
• She helped work for legislation to protect immigrants from
exploitation, limit the working hours of women, mandate
schooling for children, recognize labor unions, and provide
for industrial safety
• She produced eleven books and numerous articles, as well
as maintaining an active speaking schedule nationwide and
throughout the world
• In 1915 she organized the Women's Peace Party and the
International Congress of women
• She was elected the first president of the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919
• In 1931 she was the first American female and only social
worker awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
HULL-HOUSE
Hull-House
• Hull-House was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1989
• One of the first settlement houses in the United States
• Influenced by Toynbee Hall in the east end of London
• Settlement houses provided welfare for a neighborhood's
poor and a center for social reform
Hull-House
• Its facilities included a night school for adults;
kindergarten classes; clubs for older children; a public
kitchen; an art gallery; a coffeehouse; a gymnasium; a girls
club; a swimming pool; a book bindery; a music school; a
drama group; and a library
• By 1900 Hull-House activities had broadened to include
the Jane Club (a cooperative residence for working
women), the first Little Theater in America, a Labor
Museum and a meeting place for trade union groups
• At its height, Hull-House was visited each week by around
two thousand people
Hull-House
• Residents of Hull-House included; Jane Addams, Florence
Kelley, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Julia Lathrop, Ellen Gates
Starr, Sophonisba Breckinridge, and Grace and Edith
Abbott
• The Hull-House residents and their supporters forged a
powerful reform movement
• Among the projects that they launched were the
Immigrants' Protective League, The Juvenile Protective
Association, the first juvenile court in the nation, and a
Juvenile Psychopathic Clinic (later called the Institute for
Juvenile Research)
• Through their efforts, the Illinois legislature enacted
protective legislation for women and children and in 1903
passed a strong child labor law and an accompanying
compulsory education law
Frances Perkins
What a Legacy she left
1880-1965
Background: young girl
• Didn’t grow up in povertystricken home
• Her childhood best friend
lived in poverty
• Perkins wondered why?
• Her parents answer:
idleness and alcohol
Background: young woman
• Mount Holyoke College for Chemistry
• history assignment: required her to research factory conditions
• found horrifying working conditions:
-men, women and children working long hours for very little pay
-no safety precautions, no insurance policies
More influences
• Read Jacob Riis’s book, How
the Other Half Lives
• Heard Florence Kelley speak,
who would later become her
good friend and mentor
- her speech “first opened my mind to
the necessity for and the possibility of
the work which became my vocation”
Francis Perkins as a social worker
• quits teaching to take up
social work
-no social work education
•social work is new profession
•takes the field by storm
Francis Perkins as a Social Worker
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Earned masters in Political Science
Learned as she worked. Worked a number of social work jobs
Busting in New York:
-N.Y.C. Consumer’s League executive secretary
-investigated over a hundred bakeries, found appalling conditions
-brought findings to Board of Health and regulations were changed
and enforced
-investigated factories fire safety
-tried to get policies changed, no one listened, until Triangle
Shirtwaist Company burned down
-committees finally formed: Committee on Safety in N.Y.C. & N.Y.
State Factory Investigating.
-Perkins advised them both
-laws got passed
-From committees and her work, they made N.Y. one of the top states
in “improving sanitation, safety, and work conditions”
Administrative jobs
•
•
•
Asked by Al Smith, friend and Governor of N.Y. to be part of the
Industrial Commission of the State of N.Y.
Uproar: wanted a man appointed
Smith re-elected 1 term later
-Perkins became Commissioner of the State Industrial Board
Winning Favor
• Roosevelt becomes Governor of
N.Y.
• Appointed also by Roosevelt as
Commissioner of the State
Industrial Board
• Told Roosevelt, she would only
take the job, if he: “supported her
efforts to propose legislation to
reduce working hours, improve
workmen’s compensation, restrict
child labor, abolish sweatshops,
and establish more safety codes”
Commissioner of the State Industrial Board
• created committee to study and lower
unemployment
• studied ways to put people back to
work
• traveled to England to study
unemployment insurance
• pushed legislation: protect women
and children workers and lower
unemployment
FDR Elected President: Perkins as
Madame Secretary
• Appointed Secretary of
Labor on FDR’s cabinet
• First female cabinet
member; this is huge!!!
• Perkins:
-reorganized Bureau of
Labor
-created U.S.
employment service:
assisted people looking
for jobs
Perkins as Madame Secretary
• Great Depression hits
• Perkins creates countless programs for relief efforts:
-CCC -FERA -NRA, and many more
• Steel codes: established good wages, hours and working conditions
• Made it legal to form unions
• Division of Labor Standards: cooperated with States in all problems of
health, safety, and working conditions
Perkins as Madame Secretary
•
•
•
Headed Committee on Economic
Security (social security
insurance):
-researched and created social
security insurance for
unemployment and old age
Congress approved Social
Security Act Aug. 10, 1935
-covered: unemployed, blind,
disabled, elderly, and children of
single parents (ADC)
BIG VICTORY!!!
Perkins as Madame Secretary
•
•
•
•
Perkins worked to get 2 major bills passed
Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act: 8-hour
day, minimum wage, no child labor under
the age of 16, for all services and goods
purchased by Government
Wages & Hours Act:
-for all companies who conduct business in
more than one state
-ended employment of children under 16
-minimum wage: .40/hour
-40 hour work week
-time and a half for over time
Still have these regulations today!!!
Perkins as Madame Secretary
•
•
•
•
Served 3 full terms with FDR
She tried to resign, but he wouldn’t let her go
She wrote about FDR, “I am bound to him
by ties of affection, common purpose, and
joint undertakings.”
completely changed social welfare by
changing policies and getting laws and
regulations passed
Perkins Legacy
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Perkins accomplished so much for
the United States social welfare
system
many of the programs she started
are still around today
social welfare in the United States
would not be the same without her
influence
our nation would have completely
different ideas about unemployment,
child labor, minimum wage, ect…
changed social welfare by changing
policies and getting laws and
regulations passed
role model for women
left a legacy of ideas that we still
uphold today