Selected Bibliography of Social Work Biographical Resources
Scope note: This bibliography highlights some of the biographical
resources available in the Social Work Library, on campus, and on the web.
This list is not comprehensive. Contact
library
staff at
social.work.library@umich.edu for
assistance in locating additional resources.
** Mirlyn ** Reference
Books ** Books ** Databases ** Other
Libraries ** Web
Resources
Searching for Items in Mirlyn
Biographic and autobiographic books owned by the Social Work Library can be
found by searching the catalog using the person's name as a "Subject begins
with . . ." search (last name, followed by first name). If you are not sure
of the proper form for the first name, use just the first letter in that name.
For example:
dix, dorothea
dix, d
All titles found will be about the person or their work. Those that are largely
biographical will have a subject heading specific to that person, e.g., Dix,
Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887.
Because resources containing biographies may be found under a variety of related
subject headings, we provide some suggested headings below, which can be used
for searching the catalog.
Some suggested and related subject headings to browse in the catalog include:
| Social workers |
African American social workers |
| Social reformers |
Social workers--Biography |
Women social reformers |
Social reformers--Biography |
Reference Books
Encyclopedia of social work. (20th ed.). (2008). Washington,
D.C.: NASW Press.HV 89 .S6 2008 Reference
Rappaport, H. (2001). Encyclopedia of women social reformers. Santa
Barbara, CA :ABC-CLIO. HQ 1236 .R291 2001 Reference
Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. (1999).
New York : Basic Civitas Books. DT 14 .A374351 1999 Reference
American reformers: an H. W. Wilson biographical dictionary. (1985).
New York: H. W. Wilson Co. CT 215 .A671 1985 Reference
Barbuto, D. M.(1999) American settlement houses and progressive social
reform. Phoenix, Ariz: Oryx Press. HV 4194 .B371 1999 Reference
McGuire, W. & Wheeler, L. American social leaders. Santa Barbara,
CA : ABC-CLIO. HN 65 .M381 1993 Reference
Trattner, W. I. (Ed.) (1986). Biographical dictionary of social welfare
in America. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. HV27 .B571 1986 Reference
Who's who in America. (55th ed., Vols. 1-3). (2001). Chicago: Marquis
Who's Who [etc.] CT 210 .W63 2001 Reference
Deegan, M. J. (Ed.). (1991). Women in sociology : a bio-bibliographical
sourcebook. New York : Greenwood Press. HM 19 .W591 1991 Reference
Books
Achenbaum, A. W. & Albert, D.M., Profiles in gerontology : a biographical
dictionary. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. HQ 1064 .U5 A6241 1995
Addams, J.(1939). Twenty years at Hull-House. New York: The MacMillan Company.
HV 4195 .C4 A222 1939
Carlton-LaNey, I. B. (2001). African American leadership: an empowerment
tradition in social welfare history. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press. HV
27 .A461 2001
Cimbala, P. A. & Miller, R. M., (Eds.) (1997). Against the tide :
women reformers in American society. Westport, Conn. : Praeger. HQ 1412
.A3431 1997
Coles, R. & Cole, J. H. (1978). Women of crisis : lives of struggle
and hope. New York : Delacorte Press. HQ 1412 .C641 1978
Crovitz, E. & Buford, E. (1978). Courage knows no sex. North
Quincy, Mass.: Christopher Publishing House. HQ 1206 .C94
Davis, J. E. and Frederickson, K., (Eds.) (c2003). Making waves :female
activists in twentieth-century Florida. Gainesville, FL : University
Press of Florida. HQ 1438 .F5 M3551 2003
Deegan, M. J. (1988). Jane Addams and the men of the Chicago school, 1892-1918.
New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. HM 22 .U6 A12 D35 1988
Garland, A. W. (1988). Women activists : challenging the abuse of power. New
York: Feminist Press. HQ 1412 .G361 1988
Healy, L. M. (2001). International Social Work: Professional Action in
an Interdependent World. New York : Oxford University Press. HV 40.35
.H431 2001
Holman, B. (2001). Champions for children: the lives of modern child care
pioneers. Bristol : Policy Press. HV 247 .H65 2001
Jordansson, B. & Vammen, T., (Eds.) (c1998). Charitable women: philanthropic
welfare 1780 - 1930 : a Nordic and interdisciplinary anthology. Odense
: Odense University Press. HV 541 .C481 1998
Kent, D. (1996). Dorothy Day: friend to the forgotten. Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. BX 4705 .D28 K46 1996
Martin, E. P. & Martin, J. M. (2002). Spirituality and the Black helping
tradition in social work. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press. HV 3181 .M3721
2002
Miller, W. D. (1982). Dorothy Day: a biography. San Francisco: Harper & Row,
Publishers. BX 4705 .D28 M65
Reisch, M. & Andrews, J. (2001). The road not taken : a history of
radical social work in the United States. Philadelphia: Brunner-Routledge.
HV91 .R4551 2001
Sklar, K. K. (1995). Florence Kelley & the nation's work : the rise
of women's political culture, 1830-1900. New Haven: Yale University
Press. HQ 1413 .K45 S581 1995
Stebner, E. J. (1997). The women of Hull House: a study in spirituality,
vocation, and friendship. Albany, NY: State University of New York.
HV 4196 .C4 S741 1997
Stroup, H. (1986). Social welfare pioneers. Chicago: Nelson-Hall
Publishers. HV 27 .S851 1986
Databases
The University of Michigan Libraries subscribes to a number of databases which
contain useful information pertaining to the lives of Social Workers or Social
Reformers. Use of many of these databases is restricted to the U of M community.
These databases are identified with this symbol: 
.
For a complete description of a database, including years of coverage, please
see the Social Work Library's Alphabetical
List of Databases.
- African American Biographical Database
- Index of biographical sketches for African Americans from a number of resources
not found in other databases. Some primary sources are available as PDF files.
You will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader for these files.
- American
Indian History and Culture
- Publisher Facts on File provides over 1,770 biographies of Native Americans,
many of whom were or are activists and reformers. There is an occupation
index and web links to further information.
- American
National Biography
- Biographies of over 18,000 men and women influential in American history
and culture. Articles can be searched by name, by general occupation and
by key word. Article author and bibliography are included. Some biographies
offer illustrations, links to other web sites and links to other biographies
included in American National Biography online. Articles are approximately
1000 to 3000 word.
- American
Women's History
- Contains 2,050 biographies on women, both historical and contemporary compiled
from a number of sources originally published by Facts on File. Provides
the ability to browse for women via occupation, including the occupation "Philanthropists
and Social Workers". Each article contains links to related biographies included
in the database.
- Biography
and Genealogy Master Index
- An index to over 12 million biographical articles. This source does not
contain articles but guides you to biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias
containing material on the person you are researching. You can then go to
the catalog and find these sources.
- Biography
Index [FIRST SEARCH: Wilson Indexes to Journal Articles]
- One of the Wilson indexes available through FIRST SEARCH, this index points
you to biographies in thousands of English-language journal and books. Click
on advanced search then enter the keyword"biography" and the subject "social
work".
- Biography
Reference Bank [WilsonWeb]
- Biography Reference Bank offers citations and full text access to more
than 95,000 biographies and obituaries with over 26,000 photos. It is searchable
by name, profession and race/ethnicity. For links to over 2000 social activists
search by subject using the words "social reformers".
- Biography
Resource Center
- Provides full-text biographies from various Gale Group publishing sources,
including Encyclopedia of World Biography, Contemporary Black Biography,
Scribner's Encyclopedia of American Lives, and the complete Marquis Who's
Who. Each entry is divided into narrative biography, thumbnail biography,
magazine articles and web sites on the person. Over one million people are
covered in this database.
- Black Studies Database
- This database provides citations from sources published 1948-1986 relevant
to Black studies. Many references to social workers are obituaries from newspapers
or magazines but they provide information and names of important Black social
leaders of this time period.
- DISCovering
Biography
- This database provides short, full-text biographies which can be searched
by occupation, name, gender and ethnicity.
- DISCovering
Multicultural America
- Similar to DISCovering Biography, 2,100 biographical profiles are included,
covering prominent African American, Asian American, Hispanic American and
Native American people in a broad range of professional fields. Profiles
include: name, variant name, birth date, death date, occupation, overview,
and, in many cases, expanded biography."
- DISCovering
U.S. History
- Gale Group database similar to the two above. Search important people in
American history by name, birth date, occupation and a number of other options.
-
Other Libraries
Not all biographical resources on Social Reformers are found at the Social
Work Library. The following libraries also have a number of resources on this
topic:
Web Resources
This is a selected list of web resources which contain biographical information
or information on researching biographies. To locate more web resources, use
a web search engine such as Alltheweb, Google,
or Yahoo. Results vary among different search
engines, so try more than one for greater coverage. Use the help screens provided
by each search engine to formulate your search strategies for maximum results.
- Afro-American Almanac
- "The AFRO-American Almanac ® is an on-line presentation
of the African in America. A historical perspective of a nation, its people,
and its cultural evolution." There are a number of brief biography
sketches on Black Americans important to our nation's history. Search by
the person's name.
- African-American Pioneers In
Social Work and Social Welfare
- An article in the Diversity section of the New York City chapter of NASW
web site, written by Bogart R. Leashore, Ph.D., ACSW, Dean and Professor,
Hunter College School of Social Work. Includes citations to other articles.
- American Memory: Historical Collections
for the National Digital Library
- From the Library of Congress. "American Memory is a gateway
to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the
United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more
than 100 historical collections." Search on subjects like "social reformers" or "prison
reform" for people in these areas.
- American Women's
History: A Research Guide
- An extensive research guide for studying women throughout American history.
This site offers general biographical sources, a subject index to research
sources, state and regional sources, techniques for finding books, journal
articles and theses, how to find primary sources and a link to digital collections
of primary sources.
- Biographical
Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-present
- Provides a search engine to look up Congressional biographies by name,
position, state and party.
- Distinguished women of past
and present.
- This site provides links to other web sites on interesting women. Names
are searchable or searches can be done by looking through names in categories
such as "Activism and Social Service" and "Sociology/Social Work". Note the
source of the sites you find, however. Not all sources are of academic quality
but you may be able to find the names of little known individuals for further
research using other resources.
- The Hull House Association
of Chicago
- Provides a biography of Jane Addams with many links to other web sites
on this remarkable woman.
- Hull House Museum
- Offers information on Jane Addams and Hull House. This site provides other
links to information on Jane Addams, a bibliography of articles on Hull House
as well as on others involved in this movement.
- Memorable Canadians /
Canadiens et Canadiennes inoubliables
- Available through National Library of Canada web site. There are over 200
Canadians indexed by name subject and profession.
- NASW
Centennial Archives Social Work History Links
- Provided by the NASW as part of their Centennial Archives.
- NASW
Centennial Social Work Leader biographies.
- In honor of the National Association of Social Workers Centennial in 1998,
this site contains a few biographies on historic social work leaders such
as Jane Addams, Whitney Young, and Jeannette Rankin.
- NASW Diversity
and Equity
- Has a few biographies on African American, American Indian, Latino, and
Asian Pacific social workers. Some links require membership in NASW and a
password.
- NASW Foundation
Social Work Pioneers
- Created by NASW Foundation to "honor members of the social work profession
who have contributed to the evolution and enrichment of the profession." Lists
hundreds of names, many of which have links to brief biographies, describing
the person's accomplishments in the field.
- National Women's Hall of
Fame
- Brief biographies of women inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
in Seneca Falls, NY
- Nobel
E-Museum Biography of Jane Addams
- A relatively long biography on Jane Addams with bibliography. There is
also a link to the presentation speech given in 1931 when she received the
Nobel Peace Prize which outlines much of her work and why she received the
award. This Nobel site also has an article called Heroines
of Peace which includes biographies on the 9 international women who
have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Ongoing
- (Only three most recent issues available online) University of Michigan School of Social Work School magazine, Ongoing, offers the article "Pioneers" each month, which offers "highlights of people who have
made a lasting contribution to the UM School of Social Work and the social
work profession."
- http://www.biography.com/
- Based on the television series Biography, on A & E Television Network,
this web site has brief biographies on a number of important social reformers
and social workers. Some articles include links to related people and other
web sites related to the person.
- What
You Need to Know About Women's History
- This site, offered in partnership with The HistoryNet.com, has articles
on famous women in history. Articles are not searchable but are arranged
alphabetically by name. There are many links to web sites at the end of the
individual articles, as well as links to other guides on the web and book
reviews of books containing information specific to the person profiled.
- Women in
American History
- Encyclopedia Britannica online provides links to articles on women social
reformers. The articles include photographs and are cross-referenced to other
articles and people included in the encyclopedia. Women can also be searched
by their state.
- Women and social movements
in the United States, 1600-2000
- The Women and Social Movements web site is a project of the Center for
the Historical Study of Women and Gender at the State University of New York
at Binghamton and Alexander Street Press. This is a collection of primary
documents on women and social movements in the United States. The Archives
and Webographies in Women's History page offers many links to web sites
on women's history. About half the items available on this site are free.
The other half are available through subscription from Alexander
Street Press. There are also links within this site to Projects
in Women's History, Contemporary
Women and Social Movements and Teaching
Links.
.gif)
