1876 - 1957
Overview:
Edith Abbott changed the face of social work and its teachings. She changed the way the courses where structured and their echoes continue through the courses set today. She was the muse of a generation of social reformists in the suffragette and industrial era.
Country:
United States of America
Type
of hero: Economic and Social Rights
Attributes:
Educator, Social Reform, Writer
Biography:
Edith Abbot was born in Nebraska, U.S.A. It is possible that her mother planted her interest in welfare and social work, as she was an abolitionist, a pacifist and a suffrage leader. She also grew up in an area near the prairie wilderness, and the pioneer spirit not only captured her imagination, but also she set the pioneer spirit to work in her own way. In accepting tasks during her career, she often chose ones that required resourcefulness, courage and daring. Her older sister also worked in the welfare field as United States Children's Bureau from 1921 to 1934.
After her graduation in 1893, from Brownwell Boarding College, she began life as a teacher as she could not afford the fees for university. Not be outdone, she took correspondence courses and attended summer school until she finally could afford full time at the University of Nebraska.
She graduated in 1901 and then moved to Chicago where she took her PhD in 1905 through a study of unskilled labour in the U.S. since 1850. The following year, she began a study in London of the position of women in industry. This was made possible following the awarding of a Carnegie Fellowship.
While she began lecturing in 1908, at Wellesley College Edith showed preference for practical work rather than the isolation of academia. She began work with her sister and campaigned for voting rights for women, the improved housing for the poor, and better laws to protect immigrants, working women, and children.
In pushing to develop a more humane approach to welfare, she advocated field training of workers together with professional studies at university. She reshaped the training and education of welfare workers with a more comprehensive curriculum. Many of the materials she needed to write and develop herself.Her biggest legacy can probably be seen in her students. Many acknowledge their debt to her enthusiasm and the way they were left with a drive to work harder because of her influence.
Citations
& References:
Links
http://www.nde.state.ne.us/SS/notables/abbott.html
http://www.naswdc.org/PiecesNASW/piopeop/pioabbot.htm
http://search.eb.com.au/women/articles/Abbott_Edith.html
http://www.ssa.uchicago.edu/aboutssa/history/tour1d.html
References
Uglow, J., (Ed) (1999) The Macmillan Dictionary of Women’s Biography Macmillan, London (p.2)
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