BRYN MAWR'S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL RESEARCH CELEBRATES 90-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Allyson Y. Schwartz

U.S. Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz, M.S.S. '72, opened the festivities at a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research on Saturday, Sept. 24, with a talk titled "Social Work and Leadership." More than 170 people — alumnae/i and emeritus faculty as well as current faculty and staff — attended the day's events.

Schwartz was followed by the celebration's keynote speaker, Anna S. Forbes, M.S.S. '92. Forbes, a widely published writer, teacher and activist, has worked in HIV/AIDS for more than 20 years and in women's health and human rights for almost 30 years; she now serves as Global North programs coordinater of the Global Campaign for Microbicides. Her address, titled "Pulling Ourselves Back from the Edge: Leading Toward a Progressive Agenda in a Time of Governmental Repression," is available on the GSSWSR Web site.

Panel participants (from left) Guard, Hampton, Bonovitz, Moore, Seever

A panel discussion, "The Many Faces of Leadership," rounded out the morning's events. Moderated by Jean Campbell Moore, M.S.S. '49, the panel included Jennifer M. Bonovitz, Ph.D. '80; Gloria Guard, M.S.S. '78, M.L.S.P. '80; Raheemah Shamsid-Deen Hampton, M.S.S. '02; and Frank Seever, Ph.D. '69. A leisurely reunion luncheon gave old friends, classmates and faculty members a chance to catch up.

Founded as the Graduate Department of Social Economy and Social Research in 1915, the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work and Social Research was the first such program in an academic institution in the United States. It was a legacy of Carola Woerishoffer, a young graduate of Bryn Mawr College who, at the time of her early death, was investigating factory conditions in New York state. Her bequest of $750,000, the equivalent of about $14 million in today's currency, was the largest the College had ever received at the time it was made.

From the beginning, students in the School spent a substantial portion of their time doing fieldwork, supplemented with classroom study in casework, public welfare and legislation, and research and social investigation. The GSSWSR continues to offer both master's and doctoral programs, including a master's program in law and social policy that is unique in the United States.

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