Katharine F. Lenroot papers, 1909-1974
Katharine F. Lenroot papers, 1909-1974
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#0767
- Bib ID:
- 4079022 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Lenroot, Katharine F (Katharine Fredrica), 1891-1982
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 13.4 linear feet (32 document boxes 1 flat box)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
-
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Description
Summary
Katherine F. Lenroot is best known as the third Chief of the United States Children's Bureau, and materials dating from her service at the bureau (1915-1951) comprise the largest part of this collection. Lenroot continued to devote herself to the field of child welfare after her retirement, and the second-largest part of the collection dates from 1951 to the early 1970s. A few materials from her Wisconsin years are present. The Papers include typescripts and reprints of Lenroot's speeches and writings, her research files, correspondence with various individuals and organizations engaged in the field of child welfare. The collection also contains reports, bulletins, and photographs from conferences organized by the Children's Bureau or attended by Lenroot. Very little purely personal material is found in this collection. The media covered Lenroot and the Children's Bureau on various occasions, and the Papers include a large number of newspaper and magazine clippings. Please note that newspaper clippings are in fragile condition. Official biographical notes and personnel records prepared by the bureau are another biographical source included in the Papers. An overview of Lenroot's career at the bureau and the network she built in the course are represented in the biographical notes, clippings, correspondence, and photographs from her retirement in 1951. Also included in the Papers are certificates of honorary degrees, numerous awards and honorary memberships that Lenroot received from both within and outside the U.S. In addition to the certificates, some folders contain correspondence, photographs, and speeches related to the ceremonies. Along with Lenroot's own writings and printed materials, this collection contains publications by other individuals and child welfare organizations, which Lenroot filed for her own reference; reprints, journals, pamphlets, and clippings. The largest set of works is by Emma O. Lundberg, a co-worker and a close friend of Lenroot's since the 1910s. The collection also includes original manuscripts of Burton Jesse Hendrick, the author of Andrew Carnegie's biography.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in four series.
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Katharine F. Lenroot papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Selected Related Material-- At Columbia
Reminiscences of Katharine Fredrica Lenroot: Oral History, 1965 Oral History Research Office Collection, Columbia University Library
Records of the United States Children's Bureau, 1908-1969 (Record Group 102), National Archives and Records Administration
Accrual
No additions are expected
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source of acquisition--New York School of Social Work. Method of acquisition--Transfer; Date of acquisition--1970. Accession number--M-70.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
Papers processed Yuki Oda (GSAS 2013) 8/--/2009.
Finding aid written Yuki Oda (GSAS 2013) 8/--/2009.
Revision Description
2010-03-25 XML document instance created by Jocelyn Wilk.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Biographical / Historical
Katharine F. Lenroot, child welfare leader and the third Chief of the United States Children's Bureau (1934-1951) was born in Superior, Wisconsin on March 8, 1891 to Irvin Luther and Clara C. Lenroot. From early on, her father's political career made Lenroot aware of social and political issues. Admitted to the bar in 1898, Irvine was elected to the Wisconsin state legislature in 1901. After his service in Wisconsin until 1907, he was elected to the national House of Representatives from 1909 to 1918, and to the Senate from 1918 to 1927. During her father's terms in the state legislature, Katharine frequently stayed in Madison, and after graduating from Superior State Normal School in 1909 she deferred entering college for a year to join him in Washington, D.C.
Affected by her father's engagement in the regulation of Wisconsin railroads, Lenroot majored in economics and minored in sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. There, she was most influenced by the economist John R. Commons, who often required his students to conduct research for new legislation. Lenroot prepared a brief and testified before the legislative committee of Wisconsin to support minimum wage legislation, which did not exist in the United States at the time. With continued interest in minimum wage legislation, Lenroot decided to take the civil service examination, and upon completion of her B.A. in 1912, she began her professional career in 1913 as a deputy of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin, of which Commons was a member. Lenroot, hired as an assistant to Emma O. Lundberg, with whom she would work closely in the following years, surveyed living costs in relation to the state's new minimum wage law.
In 1914, Lenroot and Lundberg both left Wisconsin to join the United States Children's Bureau in Washington, D.C. The bureau had been created only two years earlier by President Taft, with Julia Lathrop as the first Chief (1912-1921), and Lundberg was appointed the first Director of the Social Service Division. Through a civil service examination, Lenroot started as a special investigator in the division, and was soon promoted to Assistant Director. Lenroot mostly studied juvenile courts, and issues of unmarried mothers and their children. Illegitimacy as a Child Welfare Problem (1920, 1922) and Juvenile Courts at Work (1925), both co-authored with Lundberg, cover some of her research from this period. In June 1921, Lenroot became Director of the Editorial Division, and in November 1922, at the age of 30, she was advanced to Assistant Chief of the Bureau, serving under Grace Abbott, the second Chief (1922-1934). On Abbott's retirement, in December 1934 Lenroot was appointed the third Chief by President Roosevelt, and remained in the position until 1951. In 1935, she also served as the president of the National Conference of Social Work.
Under the FDR administration, the responsibilities of the Children's Bureau expanded significantly. Lenroot, along with Assistant Chief Martha Eliott and former Chief Grace Abbott designed and advocated the Title IV, or the Aid to Dependent Children, and Title V and VII of the Social Security Act of 1935. The act authorized the Children's Bureau to administer federal grants-in-aid to the states for maternal and child health and child welfare, and services to disabled children. Later, the bureau also became responsible for the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. From 1943 to 1947 the bureau administered the Emergency Maternity and Infant Care Program for soldiers' wives and children. To obtain the cooperation of professional and citizens' groups, the bureau also took the initiative in forming the National Commission on Children in War-time, which became the basis of Mid-century White House Conference on Children and Youth.
After the war, in July 1946, the Children's Bureau went through administrative reorganization, and was transferred from the Department of Labor, the home of the bureau since 1913, to the Federal Security Agency. While the child labor function remained in the Department of Labor, the bureau maintained its other functions, but the place of the Children's Bureau in the federal government continued to be a concern for Lenroot in the later years.
Lenroot's responsibility as the head of the Children's Bureau was not limited to national child welfare, and one of her contributions in the post-war years was the creation of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. In 1946, when the Economic and Social Council established the Temporary Social Commission of the United Nations, Lenroot was appointed as its Secretary to establish a new organization within the UN to specialize in child welfare. By then, Lenroot and the Children's Bureau already had considerable international experience. Lenroot's involvement in inter-American child welfare had begun in 1924, when she attended the Fourth Pan-American Child Congress in Chile. Fluent in Spanish, she was the chair of the U.S. delegation in the Fifth (Cuba, 1927), Sixth (Peru, 1930), and Ninth (Venezuela, 1948) Pan-American Child Congresses, and served as the president in the Eighth (U.S., 1942) Pan-American Child Congress. Lenroot was also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Traffic in Women and Children established by the League of Nations Council in 1922. From 1937 through 1939, she represented the U.S. on the Advisory Committee of Social Questions of the League of Nations. Drawing on her international and inter-American experiences, Lenroot served as the U.S. representative on the executive board of UNICEF from 1947 to 1951, and played a significant role in setting the direction of the new organization.
Lenroot retired from the Children's Bureau in 1951, a year after serving as the Secretary of the Mid-century White House Conference on Children and Youth. She was succeeded by Martha Eliott, who had been her Assistant Chief since the mid-1930s. For her nearly 37 years of service in the bureau, Lenroot was honored with the Federal Security Agency Distinguished Civilian Service Award. Among numerous other awards she received in the course of her career were the University of Chicago's Rosenberg Medal (1942), the Gold Medal of the National Institute of Social Sciences (1947), and the Survey Award (1950). She also received honorary doctorates from the University of Wisconsin (1938), her alma mater, Russell Sage College (1948), Tulane University (1948), Western Reserve University (1951), and Boston University (1952). For her engagement in inter-American child welfare, a number of organizations in Latin America honored her as well.
Until the early 1970s, Lenroot continued to be active in local, national and international child welfare work. After her retirement from the federal government, Lenroot moved from Washington D.C. to Hartsdale, New York, and shared a home with Emma O. Lundberg until Lundberg's death in 1954. Lenroot frequently traveled to attend conferences and to give speeches and lectures before various audiences. Among the organizations Lenroot worked closely with were the Child Welfare League of America and the International Union for Child Welfare. She also kept in contact with the staff of the Children's Bureau such as Martha Eliott, discussing the role and the future of the bureau. After moving to Princeton, New Jersey in 1960, she served at the New Jersey State Board of Child Welfare and at the advisory council of Graduate School of Social Work at Rutgers University. From 1962 to 1963, Lenroot also worked as a consultant to the UNICEF, drafting their field manual and traveling to Geneva.
Katharine F. Lenroot died on February 10, 1982; she was 90 years old.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Series I: Writings and Speeches, 1911-1973
The writings contained within the collection are both those of Lenroot and those by other individuals and organizations.
This subseries contains Lenroot's speeches, articles, and radio talks dating from her times in the United States Children's Bureau. Although Lenroot began her service in the bureau in 1915, this subseries does not include materials prior to 1920. This material is arranged chronologically; an index, original to the material, accompanies each set of folders.
Box 1 Folder 1 to 4
Box 1 Folder 5 to 8
Box 1 Folder 9
Box 2 Folder 1
Box 2 Folder 2
Box 2 Folder 3 to 6
Box 3 Folder 1
Box 3 Folder 2 to 5
Box 3 Folder 6 to 8
Box 4 Folder 1 to 7
Box 4 Folder 8
Box 5 Folder 1 to 7
Box 5 Folder 8
Box 6 Folder 1 to 7
Box 6 Folder 8 to 9
Box 7 Folder 1 to 2
Most of the speeches and writings included in this subseries were produced after Lenroot's retirement from the Children's Bureau, although some material dates from an earlier period. Among the pre-Washington materials are a minimum-wage legislation brief that Lenroot prepared as an undergraduate and her report for the Wisconsin Industrial Commission. This subseries is arranged chronologically, but does not include an index.
Box 7 Folder 3
Box 7 Folder 4 to 6
Box 7 Folder 7
Box 7 Folder 8
Box 7 Folder 9
Box 7 Folder 10
Box 7 Folder 11
Box 7 Folder 12
Box 7 Folder 13
Box 7 Folder 14
Box 7 Folder 15
Box 7 Folder 16
Box 7 Folder 17
Box 7 Folder 18
Box 7 Folder 19
Box 7 Folder 20
Box 7 Folder 21
Box 7 Folder 22
Box 7 Folder 23
Box 7 Folder 24
Box 7 Folder 25
Box 7 Folder 26
Box 7 Folder 27
Box 7 Folder 28
Box 7 Folder 29
Box 7 Folder 30
Box 7 Folder 31
Box 7 Folder 32
Box 8 Folder 1
Box 8 Folder 2
Box 8 Folder 3
Box 8 Folder 4
Box 8 Folder 5
Box 8 Folder 6
Box 8 Folder 7
Box 8 Folder 8
Box 8 Folder 9
Box 8 Folder 10
Box 8 Folder 11
Box 8 Folder 12
Box 8 Folder 13
Box 8 Folder 14
Box 8 Folder 15
Box 8 Folder 16
Box 8 Folder 17
Box 8 Folder 18
Box 8 Folder 19
This subseries consists of published reports and articles by Lenroot. Studies that Lenroot conducted with the Children's Bureau in the late 1910s appear in this subseries. The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.
Box 8 Folder 20
Box 8 Folder 21
Box 10 Folder 1
Box 9 Folder 2
Box 9 Folder 3
Box 9 Folder 4
Box 9 Folder 5
Box 9 Folder 6
Box 9 Folder 8
Box 9 Folder 9
Box 9 Folder 10
Box 9 Folder 11
Box 9 Folder 13
Within this small subseries are articles and publications by other individuals and organizations in the field of child welfare with whom Lenroot often worked closely. The folders have been arranged alphabetically by author.
Box 9 Folder 14
Box 9 Folder 15
Box 9 Folder 16
Box 10 Folder 1
Box 10 Folder 2
Box 10 Folder 3
Box 10 Folder 4 to 5
Box 10 Folder 6
Box 10 Folder 7
Box 10 Folder 8
Box 10 Folder 9
Box 11 Folder 1 to 3
Box 12 Folder 1
Box 12 Folder 2
Box 12 Folder 3
Box 12 Folder 4
Box 12 Folder 5
Box 12 Folder 6
Box 12 Folder 7
Box 12 Folder 8
Box 12 Folder 9
Box 12 Folder 10
Box 12 Folder 11
Box 12 Folder 12
Box 12 Folder 13
Box 12 Folder 14
Box 12 Folder 15
Box 12 Folder 16
Box 12 Folder 17
Box 12 Folder 18
Box 12 Folder 19
Box 12 Folder 20
Box 12 Folder 21
Box 12 Folder 22
Box 12 Folder 23
Box 12 Folder 24
This subseries contains the original hand-written and typed manuscripts, and research notes of Burton Jesse Hendrick, three-time Pulitzer winner, and author ofThe Life of Andrew Carnegie.The materials here relate to the biographies of Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise Whitfield Carnegie. In writing these biographies, Hendrick was financed by Mrs. Carnegie, but his connection with Lenroot is unknown.
Box 13 Folder 1
Box 13 Folder 2 to 10
Box 14 Folder 1 to 7
Box 14 Folder 8 to 9
Box 15 Folder 1
Series II: Professional, 1924-1974
This series contains materials from Lenroot's professional career, spanning five decades from the mid-1920s to the mid-1970s. Lenroot's earlier research, at the Wisconsin Industrial Commission and at the Children's Bureau, are included in the preceding series.
This subseries contains newspaper clippings and journal articles about Lenroot, and official biographical notes prepared by the Children's Bureau.
Box 15 Folder 2
Box 15 Folder 3 to 15
Box 15 Folder 16
Box 16 Folder 1 to 5
Included in this subseries are articles, clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, and photographs relating to the Children's Bureau and its projects. Also present are Lenroot's personnel files, including files of her promotion to Chief. Although Lenroot officially retired from the bureau in 1951, she maintained contact with the staff, exchanging opinions and advice, and the subseries also includes materials after her retirement.
A significant amount of material in this subseries is regarding the White House Conference on Children in a Democracy in 1940 and the Mid-century White House Conferences in 1950, which Lenroot considered to be one of her major projects. Included are articles, clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, photographs, proceedings, and speeches associated with the conferences. Another subject in this subseries is Lenroot's concern about the place of the Children's Bureau, which appears frequently in her correspondence.
Box 17 Folder 1 to 2
Box 17 Folder 3 to 7
Box 17 Folder 8
Box 17 Folder 9
Box 17 Folder 10
Box 17 Folder 11 to 12
Box 18 Folder 1
Box 18 Folder 2
Box 18 Folder 3
Box 18 Folder 4
Box 18 Folder 5
Box 18 Folder 7
Box 18 Folder 8
Box 18 Folder 9 to 10
Box 18 Folder 11
Box 18 Folder 12 to 13
Box 18 Folder 14 to 15
Box 18 Folder 16 to 17
Box 19 Folder 1 to 4
Box 19 Folder 5
Box 19 Folder 6 to 9
Flat Box 273
Flat Box 273
Box 19 Folder 10
Box 19 Folder 11
Box 19 Folder 12
Box 20 Folder 1 to 4
Box 20 Folder 5
Box 20 Folder 6
Both during and after her service at the Children's Bureau, Lenroot was concerned with international and inter-American child welfare, and this subseries contains documents and photographs associated with the Pan-American Child Congresses, the League of Nations, and the United Nations and UNICEF. The subseries also includes Lenroot's own account of the history of the Children's Bureau's international activities.
Box 20 Folder 7
Box 20 Folder 8
Box 20 Folder 9
Box 20 Folder 10
Box 20 Folder 11
Box 20 Folder 12
Box 21 Folder 1
Box 21 Folder 2
Box 21 Folder 3
Box 21 Folder 4 to 6
Box 21 Folder 7
Box 21 Folder 8
Box 21 Folder 9
Box 21 Folder 10
Box 21 Folder 11 to 12
Throughout her professional career, Lenroot received a number of awards and honorary degrees. Certificates, clippings, correspondence, and photographs relating to the awards and ceremonies constitute this subseries. Materials from her retirement from the Children's Bureau in 1951 provide an overview of her official career and the network she built in the course.
Box 21 Folder 13 to 14
Box 21 Folder 15
Box 21 Folder 16
Box 22 Folder 1
Box 22 Folder 2
Box 22 Folder 3
Box 22 Folder 4
Box 22 Folder 5
Box 22 Folder 6
Box 22 Folder 7
Box 22 Folder 8
Flat Box 273
Box 22 Folder 9
Box 22 Folder 10
Box 22 Folder 11
Flat Box 273
Box 22 Folder 12
Box 22 Folder 13
Box 22 Folder 14
Box 22 Folder 15
Box 22 Folder 16
Flat Box 273
Box 22 Folder 17
Box 22 Folder 18
Box 22 Folder 19
Box 22 Folder 20
Box 22 Folder 21
Box 22 Folder 22
Box 22 Folder 23
Box 22 Folder 24 to 25
Box 22 Folder 26
Box 23 Folder 1
Box 23 Folder 2
Box 23 Folder 3 to 5
Box 23 Folder 6
Box 23 Folder 7
Box 23 Folder 8
Box 24 Folder 1 to 5
Box 24 Folder 6 to 8
Box 25 Folder 1 to 7
Box 25 Folder 8
Box 25 Folder 9
Box 25 Folder 10
Box 25 Folder 11
Box 25 Folder 12
Box 25 Folder 13 to 14
Box 26 Folder 1
Box 26 Folder 2
Series III: Correspondence, 1928-1973
This series contains Lenroot's personal and professional correspondence unrelated to the Children's Bureau. Two folders of previously catalogued correspondence are included in this subseries. Correspondence directly associated with the Children's Bureau can be found in Series II: Professional. The correspondence in this series is arranged alphabetically.
Box 26 Folder 3 to 4
Box 26 Folder 5
Box 26 Folder 6
Box 26 Folder 7
Box 26 Folder 8
Box 26 Folder 9
Box 26 Folder 10
Box 26 Folder 11
Box 26 Folder 12
Box 26 Folder 13
Box 26 Folder 14
Box 26 Folder 15
Box 26 Folder 16
Box 26 Folder 17
Box 26 Folder 18
Box 26 Folder 19
Box 26 Folder 20
Box 26 Folder 21
Box 26 Folder 22
Box 26 Folder 23
Box 26 Folder 24
Box 26 Folder 25
Box 26 Folder 26
Box 26 Folder 27
Box 26 Folder 28
Box 26 Folder 29
Series IV: Subject Files, 1909-1973
This series consists of subject files labeled by Lenroot, with the exception of the last subseries labeled during processing. In order to maintain the original context, this series has been separated from other series, but most of the subject matter relates to Lenroot's professional career, and the series includes printed materials, clippings, photographs and correspondence as well.
Many folders in this subseries include correspondence with, articles, and clippings about, or publications by the individual.
Box 27 Folder 1
Box 27 Folder 2
Box 27 Folder 3
Box 27 Folder 4 to 5
Box 27 Folder 6 to 7
Box 27 Folder 8
Box 27 Folder 9
Box 27 Folder 10
Box 27 Folder 11
Box 27 Folder 12
Box 27 Folder 13
Box 27 Folder 14
Box 27 Folder 15
Box 27 Folder 16
Box 27 Folder 17
Box 28 Folder 1
Box 28 Folder 2
Box 28 Folder 3 to 4
Box 28 Folder 5
Box 28 Folder 6
Box 28 Folder 7
Box 28 Folder 8
Box 28 Folder 9
Box 28 Folder 10
Box 28 Folder 11 to 12
Box 28 Folder 13
Box 28 Folder 14
Box 28 Folder 15
Box 28 Folder 16
Box 28 Folder 17
Box 28 Folder 18
Box 28 Folder 19
Box 29 Folder 1
Box 29 Folder 2
Box 29 Folder 3
Box 29 Folder 4
Box 29 Folder 5
Box 29 Folder 6
Box 29 Folder 7
Box 29 Folder 8
Box 29 Folder 9
Box 29 Folder 11
Box 29 Folder 12
Box 29 Folder 13
Box 29 Folder 14
Box 29 Folder 15 to 16
Box 29 Folder 17
Box 29 Folder 18 to 19
Box 29 Folder 20
Box 29 Folder 21
Box 29 Folder 22
Box 29 Folder 23
Box 29 Folder 24
Box 29 Folder 25
Box 29 Folder 26
Box 29 Folder 27
Box 29 Folder 28
These subject files often contain the organization's publications, sometimes accompanied by Lenroot's comments. Correspondence with Lenroot, research notes, including clippings and reprints, and papers written by Lenroot organization also appear in this subseries.
Box 29 Folder 29
Box 29 Folder 30 to 32
Box 29 Folder 33
Box 29 Folder 34
Box 30 Folder 1
Box 30 Folder 2
Box 30 Folder 3
Box 30 Folder 4
Box 30 Folder 5
Box 30 Folder 6
Box 30 Folder 7
Box 30 Folder 8
Box 30 Folder 9
Box 30 Folder 10
Box 30 Folder 11
Box 30 Folder 12
Box 30 Folder 13
Box 30 Folder 14
Box 30 Folder 15
Box 30 Folder 16
Box 30 Folder 17
Box 30 Folder 18
Box 31 Folder 1
Box 31 Folder 2
Box 31 Folder 3
Box 31 Folder 4
Box 31 Folder 5
Box 31 Folder 6 to 9
Box 31 Folder 10
Box 31 Folder 11
Box 31 Folder 12
Box 31 Folder 13
Box 31 Folder 14 to 15
Box 31 Folder 16
Box 31 Folder 17
Box 31 Folder 18
Box 31 Folder 19
Box 31 Folder 20
Box 31 Folder 21
Box 31 Folder 22 to 23
Box 32 Folder 1
Box 32 Folder 2
Box 32 Folder 3
Box 32 Folder 4
Box 32 Folder 5
Box 32 Folder 6
Box 32 Folder 7
This subseries holds a small collection of documents and photographs related to the personal life of Lenroot. The earliest material is from her high school years, and the latest dates from her eightieth birthday.
Box 32 Folder 8
Box 32 Folder 9
Box 32 Folder 10
Box 32 Folder 11
Box 32 Folder 12 to 13