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

Members of the Virginia League of Women Voters, January 1923, Alexandria, Va.

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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.

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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]

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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…