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Edith AbbottAmerican economist, social worker, educator and writer
Date of Birth: 26.09.1876
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Edith Abbott
Edith Abbott was an American economist, social worker, educator, and writer. She was born on September 26, 1876, in Grand Island, Nebraska. Her younger sister, Grace Abbott, also a social worker, headed the U.S. Children's Bureau and had control over the implementation of the first federal child labor law.
Education and Early Career
In 1893, Edith graduated from Brownell Hall, an all-girls boarding school in Omaha. However, her family couldn't afford to send her to college, so she began teaching at a high school in Grand Island. While working, Edith attended summer sessions and pursued distance learning at the University of Nebraska, which she completed in 1901.
After two years of teaching, Abbott enrolled at the University of Chicago, where she earned a doctorate in economics in 1905. She then received a Carnegie Fellowship in 1906, which allowed her to continue her studies at University College London and the London School of Economics. There, she was taught by prominent social reformers Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb, who advocated for new approaches to poverty alleviation.
After returning to the United States in the following year, Abbott spent a year teaching at Wellesley College, overseeing economics disciplines. She also served as an assistant to progressive-era luminary Sophonisba Breckinridge, an innovator in higher education and head of social research at the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy. In this role, Edith contributed to the study of juvenile delinquents and truants, as well as the research on women's roles in industry and issues in the criminal justice system.
Career Accomplishments
In 1920, Abbott and Breckinridge facilitated the integration of the School of Civics and Philanthropy into the University of Chicago, where it was renamed the School of Social Service Administration. In 1924, Edith became the dean of this new school, becoming the first woman in the United States to hold such a position in an academic setting. She held this position until 1942.
In 1926, Edith played a crucial role in the establishment of the Cook County Bureau of Public Welfare, and in 1935, she contributed to the introduction of the Social Security Act. From 1942 to 1953, Abbott served as the editor of the "Social Service Review," which she co-founded with Breckinridge in 1927. She was also a trusted advisor and special consultant to Harry Hopkins, an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Throughout her career, Edith Abbott authored over 100 books and articles on various subjects, earning her the reputation as a "passionate statistician." In her works, she emphasized the importance of government intervention in addressing social welfare issues, the necessity of a more humane social security system, and the development of social legislation.
Personal Life and Legacy
In the press, Edith and Grace were known as the "Abbott Sisters from Nebraska." They had two brothers, Othman A. Abbott Jr. and Arthur O. Abbott. Their father, Othman A. Abbott, was a Civil War veteran who became the state's first lieutenant governor and a member of the Nebraska Senate. Their mother, Elizabeth Griffin Abbott, was one of the early leaders of the women's suffrage movement, fighting for women's right to vote, and helped establish the Grand Island public library system.
In her later years, Edith resided with her brother Arthur in the family home in Grand Island, where she passed away from pneumonia on July 28, 1957. Part of her estate went to the Grand Island Public Library, and she also donated a portion of her collection of popular science books in memory of her mother.
One of her significant works, "Women in Industry: A Study in American Economic History," was published in 1910.
