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One of Canada’s first social workers, Jane B. Wisdom had an active career in social welfare that spanned almost the first half of the twentieth century. Competent, thoughtful, and trusted, she had a knack for being in important places at pivotal moments. Wisdom’s transnational career took her from Saint John to Montreal, New York City, Halifax, and Glace Bay, as well as into almost every field of social work. Her story offers a remarkable opportunity to uncover what life was like for front-line social workers in the profession’s early years.
In
Wisdom, Justice, and Charity, historian Suzanne Morton uses Wisdom’s professional life to explore how the welfare state was built from the ground up by thousands of pragmatic and action-oriented social workers. Wisdom’s career illustrates the impact of professionalization, gender, and changing notions of the state – not just on those in the emergent profession of social work but also on those in need. Her life and career stand as a potent allegory for the limits and possibilities of individual action.
List of contents
AbbreviationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter One -- Saint John: Religion, Philanthropy and the Poor Law, 1884-1909Chapter Two -- McGill: The Ethos of Female Service, 1903-1911Chapter Three -- Montreal: Charity, Social Service and Philanthropy, 1903-1912Chapter Four -- New York City: Private Agency Work, 1910-1916Chapter Five -- Halifax: Bureaucratization, Emergencies and the Progressive State, 1916-21Chapter Six -- Montreal and Cape Breton: Social Work Training and Professionalization, 1921-1939Chapter Seven -- The Women's Directory of Montreal and Private Agency Work, 1923-1939Chapter Eight -- Glace Bay: Exploring Public Welfare, 1940-1952Conclusion -- Sutherland's River, 1952-1975Endnotes
About the author
Suzanne Morton is a professor in the Department of History and Classical Studies at McGill University.
Summary
In Wisdom, Justice, and Charity, historian Suzanne Morton uses Jane B. Wisdom's professional life to explore how the welfare state was built from the ground up by thousands of pragmatic and action-oriented social workers.
