1920's Lifestyles and Social Trends

Abbott, Grace 1878-1939


SOCIAL WORKER AND DIRECTOR, FEDERAL CHILDREN'S BUREAU

Social worker and activist Grace Abbott (1878–1939) first gained public attention as the head of the Immigrants' Protective League. © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/ Corbis-Bettmann.

Passion to Reform.

Grace Abbott inherited her inclination toward public affairs from her father, who was active in Nebraska politics and the state's first lieutenant governor. From her mother, an abolitionist and suffragist, she derived her passion to reform the world. Abbott grew up on the expansive Nebraska prairies and in 1898 graduated from Grand Island College in her hometown. She taught high school in Grand Island for eight years and in 1907 followed her sister, social worker Edith Abbott, to Chicago to attend graduate school in political science at...

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