Devine, Edward Thomas

Devine, Edward Thomas (1867–1948) social worker, editor; born near Union, Hardin County, Iowa. After earning a doctorate in economics (1893), he was secretary of the American Society for Extension of University Teaching (1894–96). Named general secretary of the New York Charity Organization Society (1896–1917), he played a major role in the development of social work as a profession. Pragmatic, temperate and experimental in attitude, he helped establish the precursor to the Columbia University School of Social Work (1898) and was a force in improving the conditions in urban slums. On a national level, he assisted in disaster relief, served on the United States Coal Commission (1922–23), and was director of the New York Housing Association (1930) along with emergency relief agencies.