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

“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…

Peace [editorial cartoon by Nelson Harding]

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Editorial cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Nelson Harding. Peace, shown as an angel with a tiarra, slams her fist on a table, scattering…

Southern White Women on Lynching and Mob Violence [pamphlet]

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From front cover: "Excerpts from pronouncements of different Woman's State Committees on Race Relations"Statements from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,…