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.
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Members of the Virginia League of Women Voters, January 1923, Alexandria, Va.
![VCU_M 9 Box 242 LWV Convention Alexandria 1923 rsz.jpg VCU_M 9 Box 242 LWV Convention Alexandria 1923 rsz.jpg](https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/files/thumbnails/437c94034b753f98397e61f1a5a304e2.jpg)
Members of the Virginia League of Women Voters meeting in Alexandria, Virginia on February 3, 1923.Identification from back of photo Left to…
“Open-air” classroom at Moore Street School, 1113 W. Moore Street, Richmond, Va.
![Valentine_Open Air Classroom 1916_I_Cook1657 rsz.jpg Valentine_Open Air Classroom 1916_I_Cook1657 rsz.jpg](https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/files/thumbnails/f543ddad0519862a1508d145a4099c26.jpg)
In the early-20th century, Europe and the U.S. saw the rise of “open air” schools intended to create healthy environments to combat tuberculosis using…
Society for the Entertainment of Shut-ins, 1908 [annual report]
![Simmons_SESI_1908_ cover 001 rsz.jpg Simmons_SESI_1908_ cover 001 rsz.jpg](https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/files/thumbnails/94f58125f2b4d353886b8bc120d1876c.jpg)
The Society for the Entertainment of Shut-Ins(SESI) was founded in 1901 by the Rev. George W. Shinn, D. D. in Boston, Massachusetts. Shinn was the…