Her words were powerful enough to draw the attention of Joseph McCarthy. She became a victim of his attempts to silence her (and the truth).
To learn more about this awesome social worker, please visit:
onlinebooks.library....
historyofsocialwork....
sites.smith.edu/ssw1...
#VoicesFromHistory
Black-and-white portrait of Bertha Capen Reynolds from the shoulders up. She has neatly parted dark hair pinned back, a calm half-smile, and wears a dark dress with a light, scalloped collar against a plain background.
Born Dec 11, 1885, Bertha Capen Reynolds is one of the pioneers of social work. She was so far ahead of her time, she could probably teach a modern social work class. Systems thinking was her jam and she wrote several books calling for social workers to look at the big picture.
#VoicesFromHistory
In 1970, Wampanoag leader Wamsutta Frank James delivered a powerful speech confronting grave-robbing, enslavement, and stolen land. Despite being censored, his impact endured, leading to the founding of the National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving.
#IndigenousHeroes #VoicesFromHistory
In the 1830s, Pequot writer William Apess stood up in Boston and basically asked: why do you celebrate the colonizers as heroes and treat Metacom like a monster when Native people were the ones dispossessed, enslaved, and killed?
#IndigenousHeroes #VoicesFromHistory
Thanksgiving, Part 2: the folks history tried to erase or cast as villains.
Metacom, Weetamoo, William Apess, Wamsutta Frank James, and the National Day of Mourning.
Same land, same story… very different lens.
#VoicesFromHistory
Every year we drag out the same Thanksgiving script: smiling Pilgrims, “friendly Indians,” one big happy potluck. I’m a social worker and a history nerd, so I’m begging us to tell the truth about what actually happened on that land.
#Thanksgiving #VoicesFromHistory
Alt text: Black-and-white portrait of Grace Abbott seated at a desk. She wears a light-colored dress or smock with sleeves rolled up and looks directly at the camera with a serious, focused expression. One hand rests on a sheet of paper in front of her against a plain background.
Before “child welfare” was a buzzword, Grace Abbott was out here building it. As head of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, she fought child labor, pushed for immigrant families and children, and treated data as a justice tool instead of just a spreadsheet.
#VoicesFromHistory #SocialWorkHistory
Before intersectionality had a name, Pauli Murray was living it... a Black, gender-nonconforming legal mind whose arguments helped topple Jim Crow and reshape gender-equality law. They changed doctrine so more people could actually live.
#VoicesFromHistory #LGBTQHistory
www.paulimurraycente...
Tamara Grigsby was a social worker, professor, and Wisconsin state rep who carried kids, families, and public health straight into the legislative chamber. She proved a treatment plan can be written into law, not just into a chart.
#VoicesFromHistory #SocialWorkInPolitics
equity.danecounty.go...
Alt text: Painted portrait of Robert Owen from the chest up, wearing a dark coat, white shirt, and black cravat. He has light skin, thinning brown hair, and a calm, direct expression against a dark background.
In the 1800s, industrialist Robert Owen looked at child labor, 14-hour days, and factory misery and said, “Absolutely not.” At his New Lanark mills he cut hours, opened schools and childcare, and experimented with co-ops and workers’ rights.
#VoicesFromHistory #LaborHistory
Mary W Glenn helped shape the early family-welfare system, long before most women could even get a credit card in their own name. In 1936, social workers from across the US gathered in NYC to honor her decades of leadership. Quiet name, huge impact.
#VoicesFromHistory
Sepia-toned studio portrait of Lucy Parsons from the chest up. She wears a tall dark hat trimmed with feathers and a high-collared lace dress with striped sleeves. Her curly hair frames her face, and she looks directly at the camera with a calm, steady expression against a plain background.
Likely born into slavery in the 1850s South, Lucy Parsons became a fierce labor organizer. After her husband, Albert Parsons, was executed in the wake of the Haymarket Affair, she turned grief into fuel and spent more than fifty years fighting for workers and the poor.
#VoicesFromHistory
Square graphic centered on Lucy Hicks Anderson. At the top, white text on a deep red background reads: “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, and acted just what I am—a woman.” Below, a large semicircle frame holds a black-and-white photo of Lucy Hicks Anderson standing between two men in suits and hats in front of a car. She wears a dress, coat, hat, and gloves. Around the arch of the semicircle, her name “Lucy Hicks Anderson” repeats in curved text in yellow, green, and black. The Afiya Center logo appears in the lower left corner.
In the 1940s, Lucy Hicks Anderson, a Black, trans trailblazer, managed a bustling boarding house and speakeasy in Oxnard, California. When authorities challenged her marriage and benefits, she boldly declared, "I am a woman." Her courage resonates today.
#VoicesFromHistory #TransAwarenessWeek
Decades before “open adoption” was even on the radar, adoptee and social worker Jean Paton was fighting for truth, connection, and the right to know where you come from.
She broke silence so others could find themselves.
#VoicesFromHistory #AdoptionMonth
pages.uoregon.edu/ad...
Black-and-white historical photo of a person standing in front of a stone wall, wearing a long skirt, light blouse, and long coat. A brimmed cap or visor shades their face, and their features are difficult to see clearly.
In 1866, Cathay Williams boldly joined the U.S. Army as "William Cathay," breaking barriers as the first documented Black woman in uniform. She courageously served with the Buffalo Soldiers until her identity was revealed. Let's honor her legacy! #InspiringWomen #VoicesFromHistory #VeteransDay
In the 1880s, We’wha embarked on a journey from Zuni homelands to D.C. as a Zuni lhamana, now known as Two-Spirit. Despite colonizers' attempts to label them, We’wha remained a revered ceremonial leader and cherished artist.
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
#VoicesFromHistory
Alt text: Side-by-side black-and-white images. On the left, a head-and-shoulders portrait of Karen Silkwood, a young woman with short dark hair and a faint smile, wearing a patterned top. On the right, a small car with its front end crushed and the driver’s side door twisted open sits in a parking lot; the metal is crumpled from a severe crash and other cars and buildings are visible in the background.
On 11/13/74, union activist and nuclear whistleblower Karen Silkwood left a union meeting with evidence of safety violations at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant. She died before meeting a NYT reporter. The crash was labeled an accident. The crucial documents she had disappeared.
#VoicesFromHistory
Black-and-white Civil War-era studio portrait of Albert Cashier seated and facing the camera. He wears a buttoned Union Army uniform with a high collar and looks straight ahead with a neutral expression against a plain, faded background.
Civil War soldier Albert D. J. Cashier lived as a man for more than fifty years, fought in over forty battles, and was buried in uniform with full military honors.
A trans veteran long before we had words for it.
History tried to hide him. We won’t.
#VoicesFromHistory #TransAwarenessWeek
She and her husband ran the Arkansas State Press, exposing segregation’s lies until white advertiser boycotts forced it to close in 1959. Bates kept going anyway. NAACP leader, strategist, protector because silence was never safety.
#VoicesFromHistory
Black-and-white photo of civil rights leader Daisy Bates standing in front of Little Rock Central High School. She wears a light dress and looks into the camera with a calm, determined expression; the school’s grand brick façade rises behind her.
When nine Black teenagers faced an angry white mob in Little Rock (1957), Daisy Bates stood beside them. Publisher, organizer, mentor...she turned her living room into a command center for justice and kept the Little Rock Nine moving forward, day after dangerous day. #CivilRights #VoicesFromHistory
Color photo of Russell Means, Oglala Lakota activist, wearing a light jacket over a patterned shirt, hair in two braids, and a bone choker necklace. He looks directly at the camera with a steady, serious expression.
Oglala Lakota activist Russell Means (b. Nov 10, 1939) helped lead the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation and became one of AIM’s strongest voices. He called the U.S. “the world’s longest-running crime scene.”
CarolMooreDC/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
#VoicesFromHistory #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
Her legacy lives on in every woman who takes the stage: at a council meeting, in a newsroom, or during a march. Discover more about her impact here: iep.utm.edu/gouges
#RememberingHer #WomensHistory #VoicesFromHistory
Soft pastel portrait of Olympe de Gouges, an 18th-century French writer. She has pale powdered hair styled high with side curls, a calm expression, and wears a white shawl against a muted background.
In 1791, Olympe de Gouges rewrote France’s “Rights of Man” as the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen. “If women can mount the scaffold, they must be able to mount the rostrum.” On Nov 3, 1793, she was guillotined. #VoicesFromHistory #FeministHistory
Black-and-white portrait of Ethel Waters smiling warmly, draped in a shimmering lace head covering that frames her face.
Born on Halloween in 1896, Ethel Waters rose from poverty to Broadway fame, becoming a recording star and the first Black woman with her own TV show. Her music transcended segregation, turning her pain into platinum success.
#EthelWaters #VoicesFromHistory
Photo of Judith Heumann sitting in a motorized wheelchair at a conference table, smiling warmly. She wears red glasses, a floral blouse, and a maroon shawl. A microphone sits nearby, and a name card reading “Judith Heumann” is in front of her.
Judy Heumann was once denied school at 5 for being a "fire hazard." By 30, she led the 504 Sit-In, igniting the disability-rights movement. Her fight for ramps, respect, and representation reshaped history.
#VoicesFromHistory #DisabilityJustice
Black-and-white sketch of Tillie Black Bear, Sicangu Lakota advocate, looking upward with a calm, strong expression. Next to her is the quote: “Native women have survived, Indian nations have survived, because of our beliefs and teachings.” —Tillie Black Bear.
Tillie Black Bear, a resilient Sicangu Lakota DV survivor, transformed her pain into power by establishing the first Indigenous women’s shelter. Known as Wa Wokiye Win, meaning “Woman Who Helps Everyone,” she was revered as the Grandmother of the Battered Women’s Movement.
#VoicesFromHistory
Illustration titled ‘Discovery of Nat Turner,’ showing Nat Turner standing in a wooded area as an armed man confronts him after his capture in 1831.
On October 30, 1831, Nat Turner was captured following the biggest slave rebellion in U.S. history.
From enslaved preacher to visionary freedom fighter, his legacy lives on.
He challenged slavery's evil, despite being labeled dangerous.
#RememberingNatTurner #VoicesFromHistory
Colorized portrait of Roger Casement, an Irish diplomat with light skin, short curly brown hair, and a full beard. He wears a dark pinstripe suit, white shirt, and burgundy cravat. His signature appears at the bottom of the image.
He exposed slavery in the Congo and the Amazon...then Britain called him traitor.
Sir Roger Casement, Irish diplomat turned rebel, was hanged in 1916 for fighting for freedom.
They buried his body. They tried to bury his truth.
#VoicesFromHistory #HumanRights
Walter White, NAACP leader (1931–1955), transformed disguise into justice. His covert investigations pushed Congress to address racial violence long before cameras could. This Halloween, honor the man who donned a mask for truth, not fear.
naacp.org/find-resou...
#activism #VoicesFromHistory
Black-and-white portrait of Walter F. White, a light-skinned Black man in a suit and tie, photographed from the chest up. He has closely cropped hair and a serious expression.
He looked white but wasn’t. Walter F. White was a Black journalist who used that “invisibility” to investigate 40+ lynchings across the Jim Crow South. He risked his life pretending to be what America pretended didn’t exist.
#VoicesFromHistory #AntiLynching
