Richmond, Mary Ellen (1861-1928)

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Item Relations

Member of (1)
Mentioned in (11)
Written by (2)
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Russell Sage Foundation

Mary Ellen Richmond to Jane Addams, 1902

Mary Ellen Richmond to Henry Porter Chandler, January 18, 1927

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Birth Date

1861-08-04

Death Date

1928-09-12

Birthplace

Belleville, Illinois

Biographical Text

Mary Ellen Richmond was a social worker who was considered the founder of the social work profession. She helped the social work profession evolve by developing "social diagnosis," the belief that the type of care for a person had to depend on the person's situation. Richmond identified six sources of power that are available to clients and their social workers, which contributed to a popular social work theory in the 1970s: sources within the household, in the person of the client, in the neighborhood and wider social network, in civil agencies, and in private and public agencies. Prior to becoming a social worker, Richmond worked at a publishing company, and later as a bookkeeper. In 1889 she worked as Assistant Treasurer for the Baltimore Charity Organization Society, and she was later appointed to be the Society's first female general secretary. Later she held the head administrative position at the Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity, and in 1909 she became the director of the Charity Organizational Department of the Russell Sage Foundation in New York. Richmond also wrote books on her social work theories, such as Friendly Visiting among the Poor, Social Diagnosis, and What is Social Case Work.

Richmond died in 1928.

Occupation

Author

Social worker

Source

National Association of Social Workers, Photo

Collection

People

Map

Edited By

Hajo, Cathy Moran

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Female

First appears

1904

Bibliography and Links

American National Biography Online

SNAC

Social Welfare History Project

Citation

“Richmond, Mary Ellen (1861-1928),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed July 27, 2024, https://mail.digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/3539.

Richmond, Mary Ellen (1861-1928)

Item Relations

Russell Sage Foundation

Neighborhood Improvement, June 22, 1904

Address on Neighborhood Improvement, June 25, 1904 (Extract)

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Robert Weeks DeForest, July 3, 1912

Frank Addison Manny to Jane Addams, July 16, 1912

Mary Willcox Glenn to Jane Addams, January 7, 1915

Alice Hamilton to Jane Addams and Julia Clifford Lathrop, June 12, 1922

Graham Romeyn Taylor to Jane Addams, June 12, 1922

Graham Romeyn Taylor to Julia C. Lathrop, June 12, 1922

Julia Clifford Lathrop to Jane Addams, June 24, 1922

Statement on Presidency of the National Conference of Social Work, June 27, 1922

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Jane Addams, June 11, 1923

Mary Ellen Richmond to Jane Addams, 1902

Mary Ellen Richmond to Henry Porter Chandler, January 18, 1927

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