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Product Identifiers

PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press

ISBN-10022620961X

ISBN-139780226209616

eBay Product ID (ePID)13038279564

Product Key Features

Book TitleSister's Memories : the Life and Work of Grace Abbott from the Writings of Her Sister, Edith Abbott

Number of Pages376 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicFeminism & Feminist Theory, United States / 20th Century, Public Policy / Social Policy, Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare, Social Activists, United States / State & Local / MidWest (IA, Il, in, Ks, Mi, MN, Mo, Nd, Ne, Oh, Sd, Wi), Historical

Publication Year2015

IllustratorYes

GenrePolitical Science, Social Science, Biography & Autobiography, History

AuthorJohn Sorensen

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.1 in

Item Weight20.9 Oz

Item Length0.9 in

Item Width0.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2014-040791

TitleLeadingA

ReviewsEdith Abbott left behind an unfinished memoir-biography of the life and work of her brilliant younger sister, Grace, the prominent Progressive advocate for immigrants and children. It has been Sorensen's inspired and skillfully executed task to complete this biographical project, working with the incomplete text and the author's fragmentary notes and rough drafts. Intended solely for the general reader, and thus free of footnotes or annotations, this lively and well-written book is just what we need to improve the lives of immigrants and children today--a guide to the best arguments and strategies, as captured in Grace Abbott's remarkable story., A Sister's Memories is a valuable addition to the historical literature on a generation of women reformers who did much to shape a new American social contract between 1900 and 1930. Editor Sorensen has woven together the scattered and incomplete segments of Edith Abbott's memoirs into a well-crafted whole, finally allowing scholars to fill important gaps in the understanding of Edith and Grace Abbott's contributions to Progressive reform. The book is essential reading for all who are interested in the Progressive-Era origins of modern America., A Sister's Memories is a valuable addition to the historical literature on a generation of women reformers who did much to shape a new American social contract between 1900 and 1930. Editor Sorensen has woven together the scattered and incomplete segments of Edith Abbott's memoirs into a well-crafted whole, finally allowing scholars to fill important gaps in the understanding of Edith and Grace Abbott's contributions to Progressive reform. The book is essential reading for all who are interested in the Progressive-Era origins of modern America., Edith Abbott left behind an unfinished memoir-biography of the life and work of her brilliant younger sister, Grace, the prominent Progressive advocate for immigrants and children. It has been Sorensen's inspired and skillfully executed task to complete this biographical project, working with the incomplete text and the author's fragmentary notes and rough drafts. Intended solely for the general reader, and thus free of footnotes or annotations, this lively and well-written book is just what we need to improve the lives of immigrants and children today--a guide to the best arguments and strategies, as captured in Grace Abbott's remarkable story., Grace Abbott emerged as one of the leading reformers of her generation. Studious, committed, and experienced, she worked with recent immigrants through Hull House in Chicago, headed the Children's Bureau, and assisted in the crafting of New Deal legislation. This lightly edited volume, compiled from the notes and partially written chapters of her sister Edith, provides some insights about the motivation and dedication with which she undertook this work. Edith Abbott was an accomplished social welfare worker in her own right, and intended to publish a book to ensure that her sister's contributions would be remembered. She included personal anecdotes about their childhood in Nebraska, their years spent in Chicago, and correspondence from Grace's long service with the Children's Bureau. . . . Recommended., Unlike some of her well-known contemporaries and colleagues, such as Hull House founder Jane Addams and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Abbott is not a household name--not even among the social activists and social workers who now build on the foundation she helped to construct. With the publication of A Sister's Memories , John Sorensen--serving as a sort of amanuensis for Grace Abbott's sister Edith--aims to correct this oversight. . . . The credit for this readable volume goes both to Edith Abbott, who died before she could complete her intended four-volume memoir-biography, and to Sorensen, who has painstakingly assembled A Sister's Memories from multiple versions of the extant manuscript held in far-flung repositories., The work of many women activists of the early twentieth century went undocumented and unheralded for decades, often until it was recovered by historians in the 1980s. Grace Abbott's work, in particular, may have been dropped from the record because she did not position herself as a maternal guardian of children, but as an informed expert. Assertive rather than emotional, she spoke in languages--statistics, the law--that many men considered their exclusive domain. Women activists of this generation sometimes wrote their own and each other's histories, perhaps because they knew no one else was going to. A Sister's Memories reminds us that Progressive women reformers made themselves heard first by advocating for what they felt was right, and then by documenting what they had done., Grace Abbott emerged as one of the leading reformers of her generation. Studious, committed, and experienced, she worked with recent immigrants through Hull House in Chicago, headed the Children's Bureau, and assisted in the crafting of New Deal legislation. This lightly edited volume, compiled from the notes and partially written chapters of her sister Edith, provides some insights about the motivation and dedication with which she undertook this work. Edith Abbott was an accomplished social welfare worker in her own right, and intended to publish a book to ensure that her sister's contributions would be remembered. She included personal anecdotes about their childhood in Nebraska, their years spent in Chicago, and correspondence from Grace's long service with the Children's Bureau. . . . Recommended.

Dewey Decimal305.42092

Table Of ContentIllustrations Introduction 1 Part 1. A Prairie Childhood 1. Children of the Western Plains 2. Some Family Traditions: Abolition and the Civil War 3. Democracy on the High Plains 4. Our Prairie Home 5. The Rights of the Indian 6. The Rights of Women 7. Father's Law Office 8. A Home of Law and Politics 9. The Children's Day 10. Books in the Prairie Days 11. Grace and the Rights of Children 12. The Treeless Plains 13. The End of the Beginning Part 2. The Hull House Years Preface 14. Life at Hull House 15. Protecting Immigrant Arrivals 16. The Lost Immigrant Girls 17. The Children of Immigrants 18. Protecting Workers: Immigrants and Women 19. A Fair Deal: Banks and Courts 20. The "New Immigration" 21. Immigration at the Source 22. The Massachusetts Commission on Immigration 23. A Pacifist in the First World War 24. Julius Rosenwald 25. Votes for Women 26. The Children's Bureau 27. The First Child Labor Law 28. The Tragedy of "Hammer v. Dagenhart" 29. Children and the War 30. Back to Chicago Part 3. The Crusade for Children 31. The New Chief 32. The First Year 33. The Maternity Bill: A Matter of Life and Death 34. The Supreme Court and the Radio 35. The Children's Amendment 36. Madame President 37. The Battle Continues 38. Publications and Politics 39. Geneva 40. Extending the Act 41. 1929 42. Grace Abbott for the Cabinet 43. The White House Conference 44. Conversion by Exigency 45. First Essentials 46. The Undying Fire Acknowledgments Appendix. The Undying Fire Illustrations Edith Abbott (1919) Grace Abbott (1881) Grace Abbott (1889/1900) Grace Abbott with her niece Charlotte Abbott (1917/1918) Edith Abbott and Grace Abbott (1930s)

SynopsisPeers, companions, and coworkers of legendary Progressive-era figures such as Jane Addams and Sophonisba Breckenridge, Edith and Grace Abbott were near omnipresent in the great turn-of-the-century drives to understand American cities, their industrial and social economics, and their rapidly changing demographics. In her memoirs, Edith brings to life the sisters' upbringing in a small town in Nebraska, their educational and work experiences, their influence on significant social-welfare legislation, and the institutions of which they were critical parts--including Hull House and the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago., Among the great figures of Progressive Era reform, Edith and Grace Abbott are perhaps the least sung. Peers, companions, and coworkers of legendary figures such as Jane Addams and Sophonisba Breckinridge, the Abbott sisters were nearly omnipresent in turn-of-the-century struggles to improve the lives of the poor and the working-class people who fed the industrial engines and crowded into diverse city neighborhoods. Grace's innovative role as a leading champion for the rights of children, immigrants, and women earned her a key place in the history of the social justice movement. As her friend and colleague Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, Grace was "one of the great women of our day . . . a definite strength which we could count on for use in battle." A Sister's Memories is the inspiring story of Grace Abbott (1878-1939), as told by her sister and social justice comrade, Edith Abbott (1876-1957). Edith recalls in vivid detail the Nebraska childhood, impressive achievements, and struggles of her sister who, as head of the Immigrants' Protective League and the U.S. Children's Bureau, championed children's rights from the slums of Chicago to the villages of Appalachia. Grace's crusade can perhaps be best summed up in her well-known credo: "Justice for all children is the high ideal in a democracy." Her efforts saved the lives of thousands of children and immigrants and improved those of millions more. These trailblazing social service works led the way to the creation of the Social Security Act and UNICEF and caused the press to nickname her "The Mother of America's 43 Million Children." She was the first woman in American history to be nominated to the presidential cabinet and the first person to represent the United States at a committee of the League of Nations. Edited by Abbott scholar John Sorensen, A Sister's Memories is destined to become a classic. It shapes the diverse writings of Edith Abbott into a cohesive narrative for the first time and fills in the gaps of our understanding of Progressive Era reforms. Readers of all backgrounds will find themselves engrossed by this history of the unstoppable, pioneer feminist Abbott sisters.

LC Classification NumberHQ1413.A33A23 2015