Abbott, Edith, 1876-1957

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Edith Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1876, daughter of the state's first Lieutenant Governor, Othman A. Abbott. She received her A.B. from the University of Nebraska in 1901, her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1905, and spent the year 1906-1907 in post-graduate study at the University of London. Upon her return to Chicago in 1908, she became a resident of Hull House, where she remained until 1920. During this same period, 1908-1920, she served as Associate Director of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy at the University of Chicago. In 1913, Edith Abbott formally joined the University of Chicago faculty on which she remained until 1953. From 1924 until 1942 she was Dean of the School of Social Service Administration, and from 1942 until 1953, Dean Emeritus. She died in 1957.

Grace Abbott was born two years after her sister Edith, in 1878. She received her Ph.B. from Grand Island College in 1898, her Ph.M. from the University of Chicago in 1909, and studied law at the University of Chicago Law School. She taught intermittently during this period, at the secondary-school level. In 1908 she also moved into Hull House, and there her interests were turned increasingly toward social problems. In 1915 she became the first Director of the newly organized Immigrant's Protective League, and in 1917 she was appointed to a position in the Child Labor Division of the United States Children's Bureau. Upon the resignation of Julia Lathrop, first Chief of the Bureau in 1921, Grace Abbott was appointed to that position. She held it until 1934. From 1934 until her death in 1939 she joined her sister in Chicago as Professor of Public Welfare at the University of Chicago and Editor of Social Service Review.

This collection reflects the close association of the Abbott sisters throughout their careers, as well as the central position which they held in the formative period of social service in the United States. Their correspondence and interests encompassed local, state, national, and international aspects of social welfare. Among their regular correspondents were Julia Lathrop, Jane Addams, Florence Kelly, Julius Rosenwald, Julius Mack, Frances Perkins, Lillian Wald, and Felix Frankfurter. A few of the many organizations in which one or the other took an active interest were the American Association of Social Workers, American Child Health Association, Better Homes in America, Chicago Recreation Committee, Child Labor Committee of Illinois, National Civil Service Reform League, Hull House, Immigrant's Protective League, International Penal and Penitentiary Commission, National Conference on Social Work, Social Science Research Committee, Twentieth Century Fund, United States Children's Bureau, and others. Edith's interests were centered on the status of women in industry and the establishment of high professional standards in social work education. Grace Abbott's career was largely devoted to the conditions of child labor and to maternal and child health matters. The sisters shared an early interest in the problems of the immigrant, and later on in the relief and public assistance programs of the New Deal.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Edith and Grace Abbott, Papers, 1905-1976 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
referencedIn Remembering Indiana in the Twentieth Century, 1995-1996 Indiana University, Bloomington. Center for the Study of History and Memory
referencedIn Lenroot, Katharine F. (Katharine Fredrica), 1891-1982. Katharine F. Lenroot papers, 1909-1974. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Austin, Ruth, 1884-1990. Papers, 1929-1986. University of Illinois at Chicago Library, UIC
referencedIn Bondfield, Margaret Grace, 1873-1953. Papers, 1854-1951, 1898-1951 (bulk). Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
referencedIn Talbot, Marion. Papers, 1854-1948 Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library,
referencedIn Talbot, Marion, 1858-1948. Papers, 1854-1948 (inclusive). University of Chicago Library
referencedIn Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. Letter : New York, to Edith Abbott, New York, 1921 Dec. 28. University of Chicago Library
creatorOf Abbott, Edith, 1876-1957. Edith and Grace Abbott papers, 1870-1967 (inclusive). University of Chicago Library
referencedIn Filbey, Emery T. Papers, 1931-1959 Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library,
creatorOf Abbott, Edith and Grace. Papers, 1870-1967 Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library,
referencedIn Papers of Martha May Eliot, 1898-1975 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. Letter : Red Cloud, Neb., to Edith Abbott, Chicago, [ca. 1920 June 20]. University of Chicago Library
creatorOf Edith and Grace Abbott collection, 1909-1951. University of Illinois at Chicago Library, UIC
referencedIn Blaine, Anita McCormick. Correspondence and papers, 1828-1958. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. Letter : Red Cloud, Neb., to Edith Abbott, Chicago, [ca. 1920 June 20]. Texas Christian University
referencedIn Bondfield, Margaret, 1873-1953. Margaret Grace Bondfield papers, 1854-1951, 1898-1951 (bulk). Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
referencedIn Katharine F. Lenroot Papers, 1909-1974. Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Edith and Grace Abbott papers 1897-1954. University of Nebraska - Lincoln
referencedIn Filbey, Emery Thomas. Emery T. Filbey papers, 1931-1959. University of Chicago Library
referencedIn Winslow, Mary N. (Mary Nelson). Papers, 1923-1951 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn University of Chicago. School of Social Service Administration. Office of the Dean. Leon Carroll Marshall, Edith Abbott, and Helen R. Wright. Records, 1909-1956, bulk 1920-1956 Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library,
referencedIn Merriam, Charles Edward, 1874-1953. Papers, 1893-1957 (inclusive). University of Chicago Library
referencedIn Papers of Clara Mortensen Beyer Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. Letter : New York, to Edith Abbott, New York, 1921 Dec. 28. Texas Christian University
referencedIn Merriam, Charles E. Papers, 1893-1957 Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library,
referencedIn Edward A Ross papers Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn Winslow, Mary N. (Mary Nelson), 1887-1952. Papers, 1923-1951 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Sheldon Glueck papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Beard, Mary Ritter, 1876-1958. Papers, 1935-1958 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Abbott, Grace person
associatedWith Abbott, Grace, 1878-1939. person
associatedWith Addams, Jane, 1860-1935. person
associatedWith Austin, Ruth, 1884-1990. person
associatedWith Beyer, Clara M. (Clara Mortenson) person
associatedWith Blaine, Anita McCormick. person
associatedWith Bondfield, Margaret, 1873-1953. person
associatedWith Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston, 1866-1948. person
associatedWith Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. person
associatedWith Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy. corporateBody
associatedWith Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy. Records corporateBody
associatedWith Eliot, Martha M. (Martha May), b. 1891. person
associatedWith Filbey, Emery Thomas person
associatedWith Filbey, Emery Thomas. person
associatedWith Frankfurter, Felix person
associatedWith Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965. person
associatedWith Glueck, Sheldon, 1896- person
associatedWith Hull House (Chicago, IL) corporateBody
associatedWith Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.) corporateBody
associatedWith Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory corporateBody
associatedWith Kelly, Florence person
associatedWith Kelly, Florence Finch, 1858-1939. person
associatedWith Lathrop, Julia Clifford, 1858-1932. person
associatedWith Lenroot, Katharine F. (Katharine Fredrica), 1891-1982. person
associatedWith Mack, Julian person
associatedWith Mack, Julian. person
associatedWith MARTHA MAY ELIOT, 1891-1978 person
associatedWith Mary (Ritter) Beard, 1876-1958 person
associatedWith Merriam, Charles Edward, 1874-1953. person
associatedWith Perkins, Frances, 1882-1965. person
associatedWith Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946. person
associatedWith Pinchott, Gifford person
associatedWith Ratcliffe, Samuel Kerkham, 1868- person
associatedWith Rosenwald, Julius, 1862-1932. person
associatedWith Ross, Edward Alsworth, 1866-1951. person
associatedWith Talbot, Marion, 1858-1948. person
associatedWith United States. Children's Bureau. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Chicago. Graduate School of Social Service Administration. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Chicago. School of Social Service Administration. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Nebraska corporateBody
associatedWith Wald, Lillian D., 1867-1940. person
associatedWith Winslow, Mary N. (Mary Nelson) person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.)
Illinois--Chicago
United States
Subject
Child labor
Immigrations
Social reformers
Social reformers
Social service
Social work education
Women social reformers
Women social reformers
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1876-09-26

Death 1957-07-28

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w09mfk

Ark ID: w6w09mfk

SNAC ID: 30708365