Summary Information
Abstract
This collection contains research files, speeches, writings and
other material related to Emma O. Lundberg, a child welfare leader who served the
Wisconsin Industrial Commission, the United States Children's Bureau, the Child Welfare
League of America, and the New York Temporary Emergency Relief Administration.
Throughout her nearly forty-year career in social work, Lundberg wrote extensively about
child welfare; most of the papers relate to her writings and research.
At a Glance
| Call No.: | MS#0809 |
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| Bib ID: | 4079053 View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Lundberg, Emma Octavia, 1881-1954. |
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| Title: | Emma Octavia
Lundberg Papers,
1834-1971
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| Physical description: | 4 linear feet (9 document boxes)
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| Language(s): | In English
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| Access: |
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
twenty-four (24) hours in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library reading room.
More information » |
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Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in three series.
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Description
Scope and Content
Emma O. Lundberg is best known for her research and numerous writings about child
welfare. The largest part of this collection dates from her service at the U.S.
Children's Bureau (1914-1925, 1935-1945), and at the Child Welfare League of America and
the New York Temporary Emergency Relief Administration from the mid-1920s to the
mid-1930s. A few materials from her pre-Washington years in Wisconsin are also present.
Throughout the course of her career, Lundberg directed a number of studies about child
welfare, and wrote not only about her findings but also about research methods useful
for the field. Most of the Papers comprise drafts and reprints of Lundberg's writings,
and her research files. Some of the drafts are heavily annotated. Very little purely
personal material is found in this collection.
Along with Lundberg's own writings and printed materials, this collection contains a
small amount of printed material by other individuals and child welfare organizations,
which Lundberg filed for her own reference: reprints, journals, pamphlets, and
clippings. Some are accompanied by correspondence and Lundberg's comments. Also present
is a small amount of correspondence with her publishers and friends.
The Papers also include correspondence that Katherine Lenroot, a former colleague and a
close friend of Lundberg's, exchanged with Lundberg's publishers and relatives after her
death.
Series I: Writings and Speeches, 1914-1962
The writings contained within the collection are both those of Lundberg and those
by other individuals and organizations.
Subseries I.1: Previously Bound Writings and Speeches, 1914- 1946
This subseries contains Lundberg's writings dating from her times in the
Wisconsin Industrial Commission to her second service in the United States
Children's Bureau. The material, bound thematically by Lundberg, was unbound
for preservation during processing, but the original order of the material has
been maintained. Each folder includes multiple pieces of writings, which vary
from reprints, annotated drafts and manuscripts, to research notes. A few
letters related to the writings can also be found. This subseries is arranged
alphabetically by the original titles within the binders.
Subseries I.2: Writings and Speeches, 1919-
1949
The writings and speeches included in this subseries are primarily in draft
form and were produced after Lundberg joined the Children's Bureau. Some drafts
are accompanied by her source materials and notes. This subseries also includes
source materials for Lundberg's unidentified book chapters. This subseries is
arranged alphabetically by title.
Please note that most of the studies that Lundberg conducted with the New York
Temporary Emergency Relief Administration are included in Katherine F. Lenroot
Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Subseries I.3. Writings--Printed Materials, 1914- 1943
This small subseries consists of published reports and articles by Lundberg.
The materials are arranged alphabetically by title.
Subseries I.4. General, 1920-1962
Within this subseries are a small number of articles, bulletins, pamphlets, and
reports by other individuals and organizations in the field of child welfare.
The folders have been arranged alphabetically by author.
Series II: Subject Files, 1834-1946
This series consists of subject files labeled by Lundberg. The subject matters
relate to various aspects of child welfare, and the series includes printed
materials, clippings, and handwritten research notes. Many of the subject files
concern various types of child welfare institutions and legislation, and the
coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal institutions to assist children.
A significant amount of material is regarding early child care institutions from
nineteenth century.
Also present in this series are materials related to several White House
Conferences that Lundberg attended. In the 1940 conference, Lundberg served as the
Assistant Secretary. Included are articles, clippings, correspondence, pamphlets,
proceedings, and speeches associated with the conferences. The material is
arranged alphabetically by the original titles of the folders.
Series III: Personal, 1938 -1971
This series holds a small amount of correspondence and personal materials. A few
letters with Lundberg's friends and publishers are present. Other personal
materials include notebooks of her favorite poems and quotations.
This series also contains Lundberg's will, in which she designated Lenroot as the
executor of her estate, and other material related to her death. Correspondence
that Lenroot exchanged with Lundberg's publishers and relatives can be found in
this series. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject. Correspondence has
been arranged alphabetically by author.
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Using the Collection
Offsite
Access Restrictions
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
twenty-four (24) hours in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library reading room.
More information and link to off-site request form
Restrictions on Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts/University
Archivist, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to
publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission
rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Emma Octavia Lundberg Papers; Box and
Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Selected Related Material at Columbia
Katherine F.
Lenroot Papers, 1909-1974
Columbia University, Rare Book & Manuscript
Library.
Selected Related Material at other Repositories
Child Welfare League
of America Records
University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History
Archives.
Records of the United States Children's Bureau, 1908-1969 (Record Group 102)
National Archives and Records Administration.
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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries. Rare Book and
Manuscript Library; machine readable finding aid created by Columbia University
Libraries Digital Library Program Division
Processing Information
Papers processed by Yuki Oda, GSAS 2013
Finding aid written by Yuki Oda, GSAS 2013
Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT conversion
June 26, 2009
Finding aid written in English.
2010-04-13
xml document instance created by Lea Osborne.
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Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Subjects
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History / Biographical Note
Biographical Note
Emma Octavia Lundberg, child welfare leader, was born in Västergötland, Sweden on
October 8, 1881, to Frans Vilhelm Lundberg and Anna Kajsa Johanson. The family emigrated
from Sweden in 1884, and Lundberg spent her childhood in Rockford, Illinois, graduating
from Rockford High School in 1901. Two years later Lundberg entered the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, earning her B.A. in 1907 and a master's degree in 1908.
From 1908 to 1913, Lundberg worked in several cities studying living-standards and
immigrant households, and engaged in family welfare work. Among the organizations that
Lundberg worked for were the United States Immigration Commission, the United Charities
of Chicago, the Associated Charities in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Associated Charities
in Milwaukee. In 1913, she became a deputy at the Wisconsin Industrial Commission and
conducted surveys for the state's new minimum wage legislation.
In November 1914, Lundberg moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as the first Director of
the Social Services Division of the United States Children's Bureau, a young agency
established two years earlier. Shortly thereafter Katherine F. Lenroot, Lundberg's
assistant at the Wisconsin Industrial Commission, also joined the Bureau and became the
Assistant Director of the division. Lundberg directed studies on illegitimacy, juvenile
delinquency, the care of children described then as mentally deficient and state child
welfare laws. She wrote numerous articles and reports, and many of her studies were
published as Children's Bureau publications. Her publications from this period include
Illegitimacy as a Child Welfare Problem
(1920, 1922),
Juvenile Courts at Work
(1925), both co-authored with
Lenroot, along with
Children Deprived of Parental Care
(1926), and
Public Aid to Mothers with Dependent Children
(1926).
In 1925, Lundberg resigned from the Children's Bureau to join the Child Welfare League
of America (CWLA), a coalition of child welfare organizations that was established in
New York in 1920. Lundberg first served as the Director of the Department of
Institutional Care, and later as the Director of Studies and Surveys. Besides her book
Child Dependency in the United States
(1933), she
frequently authored articles in the CWLA's publications. In the early years of the Great
Depression, based on her two decades of experience in social work, Lundberg was
appointed the Director of Research and Statistics at the New York Temporary Emergency
Relief Administration under Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She also worked as a
consultant for other public agencies and conducted research for Philadelphia and
Florida.
Lundberg rejoined the Children's Bureau in 1935 at the request of Katherine Lenroot who
had been promoted to the third Chief of the Bureau in December 1934. From 1935 to 1942
Lundberg served as the Assistant Director of the Child Welfare Division, and from 1942
to 1945 as consultant in social services for children. The responsibilities of the
Children's Bureau expanded significantly during the New Deal, and Lundberg's
contributions included laying the foundation of children welfare provisions under the
Social Security Act of 1937. She was also the Assistant Secretary to the 1940 White
House Conference on Children in a Democracy.
In 1945, Lundberg retired from Washington due to ill health. She continued to write
nevertheless, and published
Unto the Least of These: Social
Services for Children
in 1947. After Lenroot's retirement in 1951 and until
Lundberg's death in 1954, Lundberg and Lenroot shared a home in Hartsdale, New York.
Emma O. Lundberg died on November 17, 1954; she was 73 years old.
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