SOME NOTABLE FEMALE SOCIAL WORK WORKERS

Social work is a profession that has seen many female pioneers make lasting changes over the years. In honor of Women’s History, we’d like to recognize some of the most influential female social workers in history. If you know someone who inspires you in social work or you feel that we missed someone, feel free to mention them in your comment.

Barbara Mikulski (1936- )

Senator Mikulski was the first Democratic woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, the first woman to win a statewide election in Maryland, and the longest serving woman in the history of Congress. She began her career as a social worker after graduating from the University of Maryland with an M.S.W. She worked with at-risk children in Baltimore and famously prevented construction of a 16-lane highway that may have prevented development of the harbor area and would have cut through the first black home ownership neighborhood. Mikulski is unofficially known as the “Dean of the Senate Women” and is arguably one of the most influential women in the country.

Frances Feldman (1913-2008)

Frances Feldman, a University of Southern California professor and social work pioneer, conducted a groundbreaking study in the 1970s that showed cancer patients faced discrimination in the workplace. Her research provided the first systematic evidence that employers and co-workers often imposed harsh, even illegal conditions on cancer survivors. According to the National Association of Social Workers, several states modified fair employment legislation because of the study. For more than 50 years, Feldman examined the social and psychological meanings of work and life. Her original research on the effect of money stress on families led her to cofound a national network of nonprofit credit counseling services that continues to operate. She also established the first faculty and staff counseling center at USC, now a blueprint for employee assistance programs across the country.

Grace Coyle (1892-1962)

Grace Coyle is most famous for developing and popularizing group work as a social work practice. Some of her most influential writings include Social Process in Organized Groups (1930), Group Experiences and Democratic Values (1947) and Social Science in the Professional Education of Social Workers (1958), among many others. 

 

 To be continued…