Explore the history of American social reform and social services 

The Social Welfare History Image Portal brings together photographs, pamphlets, artifacts and documents chronicling the history of the nation's response to human need. This history includes the work of volunteer organizations, reform movements, social workers, and government legislation and systems.

Featured Items

Wages of Saleswomen: What the United States Government Says and What the Consumers' League Knows

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This pamphlet by the Consumers' League is an analysis of the 1907-1910 Bureau of Labor report on the condition of woman and child wage earners in the…

Popular Fallacies About Race Relations

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A pamphlet addressing resistance from white Americans to racial integration. Written by the Educational Director of the Commission on Interracial…

“V is for Virginia” [broadside]

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In 1944, military leaders struggled to maintain troop levels as casualties mounted in World War II. The Navy Women’s Reserve Act, signed into law in…