Preserving social welfare history since 1979
The mission of the CSWA is to collect and preserve documents and personal histories that illuminate the development of social issues and problems in the field of health and welfare in California as well as the answers that have emerged to cope with such problems. The Archives are available to researchers, historians, students, developers of social policy, and others and offer the opportunity to examine linkages between the past and present, to learn from history, and to inform understanding of contemporary and future problems and appropriate solutions. Relevant items are collected, cataloged, and maintained by the USC Libraries in Special Collections and the Digital Library.
The CSWA is an independent, statewide organization that operates with support from, and under the auspices of, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Click here to learn more about Suzanne Dworak-Peck
California Social Welfare Archives
Mission
The California Social Work Hall of Distinction
A Force for Positive Social Change
The California Social Work Hall of Distinction was created in 2002 to honor social workers involved in bringing about the betterment of society and ensure that the contributions of social work leaders, innovators, and pioneers would be recognized and preserved for the future.
In every society, there are those who help alleviate pain and suffering by identifying needs, inventing solutions, and implementing changes.
The first step in improving social welfare is often a single person’s recognition of a situation that is imbalanced or under-serving a segment of the population. In most cases, there emerges in that individual a fervent belief that something can and must be done. Very often, that person is a social worker or a pioneer for social welfare and justice.
In 2002, the California Social Work Hall of Distinction was created to preserve the legacy of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to California social welfare and the social work profession. The inductee biographies and interviews found in the Hall provide the basis for research projects by social work students throughout California. Inductees distinguished themselves by identifying a vision of how things could be better in our communities and pursuing that vision with consistent and concerted action for change.
The California Social Work Hall of Distinction is a committee of the California Social Welfare Archives, which maintains its permanent collection at the USC libraries. Formed in 1979, the CSWA obtains and preserves materials reflecting the development of social welfare programs in California and conducts and publishes oral history interviews with social work leaders. This unique collection of California social welfare history, supported by the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and USC Special Collections, is housed in the Doheny Memorial Library at the University of Southern California and has been visited by scholars from throughout the country. The digital library of recorded interviews and presentations is online and available to all at https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/Archive/California-Social-Welfare-Archives-2A3BF1ZA1X.
Please click here to learn more about our Twenty-first Anniversary Special Commemorative Program.
If you know of an individual you believe should be considered for inclusion in this distinguished group, we invite you to submit a nomination.
Our Founders
George Nickel (1906-1990)
Armed with master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in both economics and social work, George Nickel began his social work career during the Great Depression with unemployed, homeless single men and with couples entering Rancho Los Amigos, the Los Angeles County Poor Farm. In 1932, he was invited to become director of the Kern County Welfare Program to address the relief of needy and distressed people. Over the opposition of many in that county, he successfully developed innovative projects that both relieved the stress on individuals and added economic and social benefits to the larger community experiencing the great influx of migrants from the Dust Bowl.
Frances Lomas Feldman (1912-2008)
Frances was an American social worker and professor at the University of Southern California. She is perhaps best known for conducting a milestone, a multi-year three-volume study in the 1970s for the American Cancer Society, which provided the first systematic evidence that cancer patients faced discrimination in the workplace. Her areas of teaching had to do with social welfare, including its history, welfare policy, and administration. Her research and writings examine the psychological, social, and economic meanings of money and work in American families.
Al Feldman (1909-1975)
Al Feldman was originally trained as a research chemist but soon realized that human beings interested him more than test tubes. In 1933, he worked as a caseworker for the newly created California State Relief Administration. He never left the field of social work and carried into it the hard-science research methodology in which he had been trained. After progressing rapidly from caseworker to supervisor and then to positions in research and administration in the CSRA, he joined the staff of the Los Angeles Welfare Planning Council, a private agency. Except for World War II military service and a two-and-a-half year leave to study for his doctorate, he remained there until 1960.
Ruth Britton (1923-2011)
Former USC librarian Ruth Britton died in Rosemead on January 27 at the age of 88. Britton was the head of USC’s social work library for more than two decades. She retired in 2000 after more than 43 years of service to the university. An Oklahoma native, Britton graduated from the University of Oklahoma with an associate’s degree in social work and from the University of Illinois with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in library science.
A detailed look about our goals
To grow and maintain an ever-broadening and robust collection of materials
There is much to learn from an increasing number of social welfare organizations in California marking 100 years of operation. How they evolved, persevered over time, and met changing social welfare issues needs to be captured for study. Information on organizations that have more recently tackled emerging social issues and successfully addressed those issues needs to be available; those organizations at the cutting edge of new social problems unsuccessful in addressing the issues need to be examined as lessons learned. The CSWA is poised to capture information and records about the models and methods that have allowed organizations to successfully endure or contribute to their failure. Funding is needed to support materials collection from a broader cross-section of the state, archive the materials, and digitize the holdings to maximize accessibility.
To collect and provide oral histories that demonstrate the struggles, illuminate the times, and inspire action for change
The past 50 years have been a time of creativity, innovation, and emerging research on social welfare issues and programs in California. Individuals involved in these cutting-edge developments are aging, retiring, and passing away. The CSWA plans to increase its capacity to capture the stories and wisdom from these contributors while they are able to describe in their own words “what happened” and how change was achieved. We intend to continue to gather information about remarkable people and service programs in order to preserve irreplaceable information and make it available to future social program planners and policy advocates. Funding is needed to develop an online training program to teach people across the state to conduct and produce quality video recordings of oral history interviews.
To build awareness and utilization
The CSWA will promote increased awareness of the Archives using traditional and new media, including the Future Leaders program that engages students in social work programs across the state and motivates the use of the CSWA websites for coursework. Campaigns addressing practicing social workers and the general public will continue and expand.
To increase and sustain operational activities
For most of its history, the CSWA has operated as a volunteer organization. In 2008, funding was generously provided by the USC School of Social Work to support part-time administrative support. As the organization has evolved and expanded, the responsibilities of the support position have grown in content and quantity. Funding is needed to retain and expand the position going forward to ensure the provision of the staff work required for CSWA and the California Social Work Hall of Distinction.
To engage and encourage participation in an ever-increasing number of social work programs in the Social Work Hall of Distinction
By utilizing the California Social Work Hall of Distinction in their curricula and nominating social work leaders for induction to the Hall, social work programs will join in the study and celebration of the social work profession and contribute to building a comprehensive history of social work in California.
The CSWA Campaign
For decades, the Friends of the California Social Welfare Archives, an ever-growing network of individuals providing financial support toward the attainment of the CSWA mission, has generated vital support for the Archives. The work and generosity of the Friends has now positioned CSWA to embark upon a campaign to build an endowment fund to ensure that its work continues in perpetuity. The Archives is seeking a financial commitment from a range of supporters: individuals and organizations who understand the need for preserving social welfare historical records, appreciate the long-term benefits of connecting our past experiences with the present, and from that experience create a foundation to benefit future social welfare development, and those that value documenting, honoring and building the profession of social work. A comprehensive development strategy is in place and is being supported by the USC School of Social Work to grow and maintain an independent, self-sustaining fund to ensure the ongoing efforts of the CSWA. A strong foundation of gifts and pledges is in place for this effort; momentum, enthusiasm, and optimism are building. The most productive years of the California Social Welfare Archives and the California Social Work Hall of Distinction lay ahead.
