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

An Amendment to the Constitution is Needed to Give the United States Power to Safeguard the Child Life of the Nation

HD 6250_U3A5 1920 An Amendment to the Constitution is Needed p1 rsz.jpg

Pamphlet advocating for theChild Labor Amendment,passed in 1924, but never ratified.Cover cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper cartoonist John…

The Southern Frontier, vol. 1, no. 5 [Texas Issue]

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Published by Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC), The Southern Frontier was a monthly newsletter, first issued in January, 1940. Aiming to…

Chores of Modern Health Crusaders

U Minnesota_SWHA_Chores of Modern Health Crusaders Nat Rec Assn B3 F PRAA BOD May 1924 rsz.jpg

Poster depicting the eleven Chores of Modern Health Crusaders. These eleven health chores set out the essentials of tuberculosis prevention and…