“Hey, that’s where I live! I never knew!” - one of my MSW students.
Teaching Los Angeles’ social welfare history is an integral component to my MSW students’ education (and if you’re a SW educator, you can teach about your local history too!)
Hello and welcome to the 2nd installment of the California Social Welfare Archives “Adventures in the Archives” blog! In today’s post I’ll share why it’s imperative that MSW students learn the honest history of our profession and why teaching local social welfare history prepares students to be anti-racist practitioners.
For those of you who are also social work educators, I’ll share an assignment I use in one of my Human Behavior in the Social environment (HBSE) classes and invite you to adapt it to your local community.
About me:
My name is Elise Johnson, LCSW and like many in my profession I wear lots of hats. I’m a clinical social worker in an emergency department, I’m a volunteer for the CSWA and I’m a part time MSW lecturer.As a part time social work professor, I teach at two MSW programs in Los Angeles.At UCLA I teach an elective on clinical social work in healthcare. At Cal State Dominguez Hills I teach several classes including and elective on clinical social work in healthcare, an elective on mental health diagnostics using the DSM-5-TR, a foundational practice course and the two-part foundational-year series entitled Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE).
HBSE, part 1 is, essentially, a critical evaluation of the psychology theories that the social work profession has co-opted. It’s the foundation of clinical practice theories we apply as LCSWs.HBSE part 2 is, essentially, a critical evaluation of the social theories that the social work profession has co-opted. It’s the foundation of macro practice theories we apply as social policy, community organizing and political justice social workers.It’s the month of May, which means it’s the end of the semester at CSUDH MSW when I’ll be grading at least 92 papers. (Yes, you read that number correctly: Ninety-two papers. More, for those students submitting papers for extra credit.)
It’s a lot.
Yet, here I am writing a blog about it instead of grading them. Why? One of the assignments is my FAVORITE paper to grade: It’s a paper entitled, “Social work History and Inspiration” and I thought I’d share it with you today. It’s worth 25% of the total class grade and involves researching a neighborhood in the So Cal area; its history and, in particular, its social justice history. Then, they visit the neighborhood and post photos of those historic sites on Twitter and promote those sites by tagging them and the local leaders they studied. (They are also encouraged to eat at legacy restaurants there too!)
But what does this have to do with the California Social Welfare Archives, you may wonder? Well, in my digs through the hundreds of boxes in the CSWA I read the documents of social workers who worked in communities where social movements occurred. In some cases the archives document voices of color who were suppressed, in other cases the CSWA documents the injustices that occurred in local neighborhoods - and sadly, social workers were complicit in those injustices. In other files, the archives include documentation of social justice efforts made by social workers who were heralded in their day but have simply been forgotten over time.
By bringing our local social work history out into the open; The good, the bad and the ugly, my students learn why, in so many cases, our clients have deep mistrust of those in our profession and what our predecessors did to deserve that suspicion.
In so many cases, students were never told of their communities amazing stories: Whether it’s the Tongva’s history and current presence, Las Mutualistas (mutual aid) movements of the early 1900’s century in East Los Angeles, or the history of Jewish leaders who lead the early unionizing efforts in the 1920’s, the shameful role that MSWs played in incarceration of Japanese Americans on Terminal Island (San Pedro) during World War II, or the locations of the Black Panther breakfast programs in Historic South Central in the 1960’s... the list goes on and on.
Visiting the built environment, eating at legacy restaurants and understanding our profession’s complex history inspires social work students to commit to anti-racist practice going forward.
Every single year, I hear the following statement from students, “My parents and grandparents are from that neighborhood. No one ever told me this. I’m so proud of my community and now, more than ever, I’m dedicated to serving it when I graduate.”
I’ve posted the directions to the assignment below. If you’re an educator, please feel free to adapt it for your local community.
If you’re a practitioner in the LA area, consider visiting these neighborhoods and learn about the social justice history (or in many cases, the social in-justice history) and the role that social workers played in those movements.
Social Work History and Inspiration
This assignment intends to explore the history of social welfare through a critical lens with the hope that this viewpoint sheds light on voices of color and others whose contributions to our city have been overlooked or de-legitimized- whether the participants within that movement possessed a degree in social work or not. Additionally this assignment exposes students to social welfare history in Los Angeles that has perpetuated and reinforced white supremacy resulting in generations of lasting harm and distrust of our profession to this day.
Upon completion of this assignment;
1. MSW students will have gained a socio-historical framework that is centered from a place-based critical perspective that contrasts Eurocentric colonialist theory,
2. MSW students will have appreciation of indigenous social theory models, mutual aid models and social movement models that are often ignored in commonly taught HBSE courses,
3. MSW students will apply contextualized theory-to-practise constructs.
Directions:
1. Students will choose a local L.A. landmark, neighborhood or location and conduct research on that location and social movements (positive or negative) that occurred there (See below for ideas. Students may choose any subject or event discussed this semester). If social workers were involved, indicate that as well. Students are welcome to use my sources as a starting point but must go further and find their own. Said research does not have to be academic in nature but students will be required to include those sources in a “References” section.
2. Students will visit the location they studied.
3. Students will document their visit via photos.
a. Students must take at least one selfie showing the student at at least TWO of the locations of their choice.
b. Students and post these photos on Twitter using the hashtags #csudhMSW501 @csudh_MSW.
c. Students will promote those locations by linking their research sources to their posts so that others may benefit from this knowledge.
4. Students will identify one source of professional inspiration and write about it. (The inspiration may be associated with the landmark/neighborhood visited, or not. It’s up to the student). Students may choose from any of the social workers, social movements, community advocate(s), community group/organization/society/population or mutual aid program we discussed over the course of the semester. Alternate subjects will be considered in consultation with the professor. Students will include why the person, movement or program was chosen and how they will shape their career to honor that source of inspiration.
5. References are required. However the sources do not need to be academic ones. Remember to link those sources to your Twitter posts.
6. Essays will be between 6-10 pages.
Suggested locations include;
● Tongva sites:
○ Kuruvungna Springs at University High School (West L.A.),
○ Tongva Park in Santa Monica
○ Boyle Heights’ Toypurina mural
○ Palos Verdes Tongva Monument (at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park). Pro tip: Take a long walk/hike along the PV bluffs and check out this new monument. Afterwards enjoy a (pricey) burger at Nelson’s at Terranea overlooking the ocean.
○ Pro tip at home: Watch Netflix t.v. show City of Ghosts, Tovaangar episode
○ Additional historic sites, tributes and memorials can be found on the Gabrieleno (Tongva) Band of Mission Indians website
● Historic Core of Downtown L.A:
○ Take this self-guided walking tour which includes Biddy Mason Park
○ A short detour away (walking distance) is the Courthouse: the contemporary location of where the Downey Block slave auctions took place.
○ From the Downey Blok location, walk to Little Tokyo. If you have an Iphone, check out this augmented reality app depicting the forced evacuation of the Japanese-American residents there in 1942.
○ Pro tip: Eat lunch at the Grand Central Market before or after your walk
● El Pueblo de Los Ángeles (aka “Olvera Street” - but there is SO much more!)
○ Pro tip: Start at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes It’s amazing - and free!
○ Take this self guided tour of the Pueblo area and/or,
○ Take this self-guided walking tour of Chinatown (the original location as well as New Chinatown) and/or
○ Take this self-guided tour of the locations of lynchings in L.A.
○ Check out the many museums in La Plaza. They are all FREE!
○ Stop by the Museum of Social Justice - and SO many others.
○ Eat the world famous taquitos at Cielito Lindo. They do not disappoint.
● The Dominguez Land Grant/Rancho San Pedro:
○ Dominguez Rancho Adobe and Museum
○ Take this self-guided walking tour of San Pedro and Terminal Island,
○ Go see Terminal Island now - before it’s bulldozed. The built environment is still there. Here’s a blog with some pictures
○
● Historic South Central Avenue:
○ Take this self guided walking tour Note the former location of the Black Panther Party headquarters as well as Bunchy Carter Clinic.
○ Pro tip: Drop by the Dunbar (Hotel) and soak up the vibe of the jazz legends that stayed there.
● Watts:
○ Watts Labor Action Committee (WLCAC) Family Resource Center,
○ Pro tip: Grab some coffee and history at the Watts Coffee House https://twitter.com/i/status/1368992377524813831
○ This library is not in Watts, but it’s in neighboring South L.A. The Southern California Library for Social Sciences is a hidden gem that hosts archives and displays of social justice movements in South L.A.
○ Silverlake:
■ Take this self guided walking tour of Silverlake,
■ Pro tip: After hiking the Mattachine Steps, grab lunch and history at the Black Cat Cafe
○ Arts District of DtLA and Lincoln Heights:
■ The Las Memorias AIDS Monument in Lincoln Park
■ Pro tip: Check out the We Rise Gallery and grab a bite at Majordomo
○ Other locations:
■ Or any site from queermaps.org
○ Take this self guided walking tour
○ Breed Street Shul, Pro tip: Take a tour by local historian Barrio Boychik
○ Go by The International Institute Where lots of early 20th century social workers were employed. Pro tip: Read Dominguez, L. (2021). Courtyard Sisters: Settler Fantasy and Experiment at the International Institute of Los Angeles, 1914–1940. Western Historical Quarterly, 52(4), 415-440. In the Week 5 Canvas file.
○ Visit the “Sobrevivir” monument commemorating the forced sterilizations of women from 1968 and 1974. at LA County-USC Medical Center courtyard. Pro tip: Watch the documentary “No Más Bebés”.
○ Pro tip: Eat at Guisados on Cesar Chavez or Otomisan on 1st; famous Japanese food since 1956.
See you in the archives,
Elise Johnson, LCSW, LPS
Know a social worker from your community who may have been forgotten or overlooked? Interested in getting involved with the California Social Welfare Archives (CSWA)? Reach out to me at eljohnson@csudh.edu and/or follow me on Twitter @EJohnsonLCSW.