Indiana University Training Course for Social Work records, 1927-1945

Summary

Creator:
Indiana University. Department of Sociology
Abstract:
The first courses in professional social work were taught at Indiana University in the Department of Economics and Sociology in 1911. In 1935, the Training Course for Social Work was established as a division of the Department of Sociology. The program offered graduate level courses in hospital social work, probation, parole, public relief, child welfare, and institutional work. In 1942, the Training Course for Social Work proposed an accelerated war service program that could be completed in one year and four months. The collection consists of departmental budget ledgers, correspondence, faculty meeting minutes, and information pertaining to field and extension service.
Extent:
1 cubic foot (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Item], Indiana University Training Course for Social Work records, Collection C600, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

Background

Administrative History:

The first courses in professional social work were taught at Indiana University in the Department of Economics and Sociology in 1911. In 1915, courses were organized under the Social Service Department in cooperation with the School of Medicine and Indiana University Hospitals. In 1924, social work training was again placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Economics and Sociology under the title of Training Course for Social Work. In 1935, the Department of Economics and Sociology split and the Training Course for Social Work became a division of the Department of Sociology.

The Great Depression and World War I increased the need for trained social workers. Indiana University responded by training students in subjects beyond hospital social work to include probation, parole, public relief, child welfare, and institutional work, both public and private. The Training Course for Social Work was a graduate program that granted a Master of Arts in Social Work to be completed in four semesters and included instruction and field experience. In 1942, the Training Course for Social Work offered an accelerated war service program that could be completed in one year and four months in compliance with the Indiana University's Administrative War Council's goal of graduating students before they reached military age. From 1937-1944, professors from the Training Course for Social Work partnered with the Indiana Department of Public Welfare to provide instructional sessions via the In Service Training Program in counties throughout the state. After World War II, IU's social work program separated from the Department of Sociology and became a separate academic unit with its own director and administration.

Scope and Content Note:

The collection consists of one series, Administrative files, and includes records that detail the history of the teaching of social work at Indiana University and the goals of the Training Course for Social Work program. Correspondence in the collection includes general correspondence between faculty and administration in the departments of sociology and economics as well as correspondence pertaining to extension services and student field work in various counties throughout Indiana. The collection also contains meeting minutes of the Special Consultant Committee on Recruitment and correspondence related to increasing the number of trained social workers in the state of Indiana, ordered chronologically. Faculty meeting minutes in this series discuss faculty committees, extension courses, the accelerated war service program, and curriculum decisions. The "Wartime Committee on Personnel (Mailing List) 1944" folder consists of copies of letters sent to prospective students of the accelerated program. The "Clippings" folder is ordered in reverse chronological order and contains newspaper article pertaining to the work of faculty in the Training Course for Social Work program at Indiana University and beyond. Also included are departmental budget ledgers spanning 1934-1944.

Acquisition information:
Accession 0266
Processing Information:

Processed by Katie Martin.

Completed in 2016

Arrangement:

Collection is organized into a single series: Administrative files.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.

Terms of access:

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Preferred citation:

[Item], Indiana University Training Course for Social Work records, Collection C600, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.

Location of this collection:
Herman B Wells Library E460
1320 East Tenth Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
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Campus:
Indiana University Bloomington
Contact:
812-855-1127
archives@iu.edu