Abbott, Grace

Abbott, Grace, 1878–1939, American social worker, b. Grand Island, Nebr. She did notable work as director (1921–34) of the Child Labor Division of the U.S. Children's Bureau. The Child and the State (2 vol., 1938) is her most important publication. Her sister,

Edith Abbott, 1876–1957, became dean of the School of Social Service Administration, Univ. of Chicago, in 1924. Her publications include Women in Industry (1910) and The Tenements of Chicago (1936).

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Abbott, Grace

(born Nov. 17, 1878, Grand Island, Neb., U.S.—died June 19, 1939, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. social worker, public administrator, educator, and reformer. She graduated from Grand Island College and did graduate work at the University of Nebraska and the University of Chicago, receiving a Ph.D. in political science in 1909. In 1908 she began working at Jane Addams's Hull House in Chicago, where she cofounded the Immigrants' Protective League. As director of the U.S. Children's Bureau (1921–34), she fought to end child labour through legislation and restrictions on federal contracts. She worked to win public approval of a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labour; though submitted to the states in 1924, the amendment was never ratified. Her best-known book is The Child and the State (2 vol., 1938).

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Abbott, Grace (1878–1939) social worker, activist; born on Grand Island, Nebr. She studied at the Universities of Nebraska and Chicago and in 1908 went to live at Chicago's Hull House to head the Immigrants' Protective League. Author of forceful articles exposing the exploitation of immigrants, she also campaigned for child labor laws, and as director of the federal Children's Bureau (from 1919), she administered grants to provide health care for mothers and children. She was president of the National Conference of Social Workers (1923–24), an adviser to the League of Nations (1922–34), and professor of public welfare at the University of Chicago (1934–39).