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

We Dedicate...... Virginia Commission for the Blind, September 25, 1941

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Program from the dedication of the Virginia Commission for the Blind on September 25, 1941. The building, located at 3003 Parkwood Ave. Richmond, Va.,…

Voting Status of Negroes in Virginia and Procedures and Requirements for Voting in Virginia

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This 1944 booklet is the Virginia Voters League’s fifth annual report. The League began in 1941 and worked with the NAACP in advocating for increased…

Child Labor in Virginia. NCLC Pamphlet No. 171

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Pamphlet by Alexander Jeffrey McKelway, Secretary for the Southern States, National Child Labor Committee. With photographs by Lewis W. Hine, staff…