A Century of Social Work: The Power of Jane Addams

Thursday, June 14th, 2018

Follow this link to watch Tonya Myles-Day’s presentation on YouTube.

The TR Site’s ongoing Speaker Nite series recently featured Professor Tonya Myles-Day LMSW, Adjunct Professor of Social Work at Buffalo State College. Her presentation, “A Century of Social Work: The Power of Jane Addams”, combined her professional knowledge and experience with a historical evaluation of Jane Addams’ contributions to the field of social work and her legacy.  

Professor Myles-Day began her energetic and interactive presentation by asking the audience what they knew about Jane Addams. Most people present were aware that she is considered the ‘Mother of Social Work,’ but Professor Myles-Day explained that she had earned that title by being an activist, advocate, social worker, philosopher, sociologist, mediator, reformer, and most importantly a change agent. The concept of being a change agent is particularly important because it is the catalyst of reform; it’s about creating momentum and bringing attention to an issue. Therein lies the power of Jane Addams’ legacy -- she was a change agent.

Her success stemmed, in part, from the relationship she was able to foster with the reform-minded Theodore Roosevelt. Professor Myles-day described them as ‘home boy’ and ‘home girl’ because of how like-minded they were. The relationship allowed Jane to advocate for social policy change and social welfare, while also bringing attention to children’s needs, public health, and world peace. Professor Myles-Day explained that these types of actions took place at the macro level, which is working at the highest level to achieve lasting reform for many individuals through people in positions of power. However, Jane was not exclusively known for her contributions at the macro level. In fact, she worked in a number of different capacities in varying socio-economic levels to inspire and produce lasting reforms.

Activist

As an activist Jane often worked at the ground level creating change in communities that needed it most. She is often remembered for her philanthropic work at Hull House, a settlement house on the west side of Chicago. The inspiration for Hull House came after a trip abroad. As a young woman Jane traveled Europe where she visited settlement houses and saw firsthand the services they provided to those in need. When she returned home, she began to apply the knowledge she acquired in Europe to the immigrant population in Chicago. At that time, many German and Polish immigrants struggled to assimilate into American culture and were living in poverty with no real means of supporting themselves or their families. In 1899, Jane and Ellen Gates founded Hull House to provide a variety of resources and services to those living in poverty. Hull House offered day care services for working mothers, a community kitchen, healthcare, and education while also empowering those individuals to advocate for change and for themselves.

Advocate

In addition to her work with those in poverty, one of her most profound contributions was advocating for women’s voting rights. She believed that in order to enact reforms and inspire progress, everyone must have the opportunity to voice their opinions in the form of the ballot. She joined the Women’s Suffrage movement and encouraged other middle class women to support the cause.

Social Worker

When Jane began her work, the field of social work did not exist as such. She followed her instincts and learned from her experiences working with different people with disparate needs. Interestingly, much of what Jane came to understand about the people she worked with and how to best serve them is now the backbone of modern social work. She understood that it was critical to ‘meet individuals where they are’ and made Hull House all-inclusive to eliminate any obstacles that might prevent a person from obtaining the help they need. Professor Myles-Day explained how that idea drives social work today. She listed parts of the current NASW Code of Ethics and explained how Jane embodied those principals before they were even defined.

                Competence: Jane understood that working primarily with an immigrant population required cultural understanding, empathy, and support without bias or judgement.

                Dignity and Worth of the Person: She respected the differences that each individual possessed and encouraged people’s right to self-determine.

                Social Justice: Jane lobbied for social welfare reform and equality through challenging government officials and giving the less fortunate a voice. She was relentless in her pursuit of providing individuals with basic human rights.

                Service: Jane Addams provided a multitude of services at Hull House to empower individuals to become self-sufficient.

Philosopher

Jane Addams was a self-taught scholar who implemented the theories of others in practical and direct ways. She firmly believed in combining ‘feminine’ sensibilities with an unwavering commitment to social improvement through cooperative efforts. She expanded upon the theories and progressive ideas of John Dewy, William James, and George Herbert Mead by putting them into practice in the ways she saw most fit. As Professor Myles-day explained, they made the framework and Jane made it work. She combined ‘feminine’ qualities like compassion, sympathy, and empathy with knowledge and experience. She believed that social connectivity fostered closer relationships, which in turn increased the potential for caring and empathetic moral action. She also understood that recognizing alternate standpoints played an important part in promoting social progress through sympathetic understanding. Quite simply, in order for a community to thrive individuals had to come together but all of the “players” had to be at the table. True change could only be achieved when community activists and government leaders came together to create specific legislation and a plan to implement the policies.

Legacy

Though the Progressive Era earned its nickname for a good reason, enacting change was not always as easy as it sounded. Jane was faced with opposition from big businesses and corrupt governments who were happy to exploit the poor for personal gain. As a woman she had fewer rights and no political voice (ie, no vote). Yet, Jane was able to navigate a system that was stacked against her. She connected with the right people and reached out to sympathetic politicians while encouraging middle class women to support her causes. She even exposed corruption in businesses through journalism and encouraged those with the vote to make their votes count. All of which was able to turn the tide in her favor. So much so that her efforts had a lasting legacy.

Since the establishment of Hull House in 1899, the field of social work has grown significantly. In 1904, Simmons College in Boston partnered with Harvard to establish the Boston School for Social Workers. By 1908, a full curriculum social work program was offered through the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy (known today as the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago). Eleven years later, there were 17 schools of social work affiliated with the Association of Training Schools of Professional Social Work (which became The Council on Social Work Education in 1952). In the aftermath of the First World War, the Army and the Red Cross requested social workers to apply casework skills to treat soldiers suffering from ‘shell shock.’ This moment was particularly significant because it was the first time social workers were called upon to treat social issues that weren’t limited to poverty. This opened the door to another spectrum of social work: mental health diagnoses and their treatment.

Our understanding of poverty, social policy, and social welfare grew alongside the field of social work. By the time of the Great Depression, social welfare became a central issue and New Deal programs were implemented in an effort to address many of the economics issues facing individuals. By the 1960s the government’s understanding of poverty and social policy had evolved even further. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson launched an “unconditional war on poverty” that recognized poverty as a systemic social problem. In the 1970s colleges and universities established a Bachelors of Social Work (BSW) degree as well as joint degrees with social work and other public policy sectors to better address the growing demand and to further the relationship between social workers and policy makers.  

Professor Myles-Day went on to discuss other women who made significant contributions to the field of social work and the future of the field. She finished her presentation by explaining different ways the audience could advocate for social reform and inspiring everyone present to take up the challenge.

- Lindsey Evans, Public Programming Assistant

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Speaker Nite is part of the TR Site’s regular Tuesday evening programming, which is made possible with generous support from M&T Bank, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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