Project Looks at History of Social Work at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Imagine Niles Carpenter's astonishment back in 1924.

A family sociologist and ordained minister recently recruited from Harvard to become chair of the Department of Sociology at UB, "I was asked to meet with a group of social workers and was given to understand that I was expected forthwith to start a school of social work, which was, to say the least, a surprise to me."

Two years later, social work classes began to be offered in Townsend Hall, which was located in Niagara Square next to City Hall. The school received its accreditation from the American Association of Schools of Social Work in 1934.

Over the past year, in preparation for its 75th anniversary, the School of Social Work has been taking a look at its past, from its unexpected start, through the Great Depression and World War II, to the unrest of the 1970s and the present day.

Toward that end, it has kicked off the School of Social Work History Project, an effort to document the school's history of educating social work professionals and its impact on countless lives.

Some of the information being gathered includes photos and historical documents that have been stashed in the University Archives and various School of Social Work storage areas.

But some of the most valuable material is coming from the school's richest resources: its alumni, faculty and staff.

The School of Social Work has developed a Web site at http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/about/historyproject/ that explains the History Project and, more importantly, offers people who have been involved with the school the opportunity to record their recollections and anecdotes about their experiences with the school.

The school also will be conducting detailed interviews with former deans, faculty and staff members and alumni to gather their memories of the school, said David Coppola, MSW 2005, who is coordinating the History Project. Susan Green, clinical assistant professor of social work, and Denise Krause, clinical associate professor of social work, also are members of the research team.

"We're going to be traveling around the country to talk with people who were involved with the school," he said. "We've already done 10 interviews and we want to do a total of 60, among which we hope to include all former deans who are still living and even some alumni who were students when Niles Carpenter was dean." There also are plans to interview a member of the Class of 1939, he added.

In addition, the History Project is using its Web site to collect reminiscences of new and less recent graduates. Roughly 20 alumni, ranging from the Class of 1951 to the Class of 2005, have contributed their memories to the site so far.

Among the recollections:

"I attended the UB School of Social Work from September 1953 until June 1955, when I received my master's degree. All my classes were held in Townsend Hall, located in Niagara Square next to City Hall. I can remember when ropes were strung from the monument in the middle of Niagara Square to the buildings due to icy conditions, and the only way to cross the square and remain in an upright position, due to the ice and wind off the lake, was to hang on to the rope and pull yourself across."

Townsend Hall, the School of Social Work's first home, inspired a number of memories, including comments about the state of the building itself.

"Some of us are old enough to remember when our classes met in Townsend Hall, a broken-down building near the Law School and City Hall. They tell me it's a parking lot now. We could not have classes above the second story because of the danger of the floor giving way."

Conditions likely improved greatly when the school moved to MacDonald Hall on the South Campus in 1955, followed by a move to Foster Hall in 1959.

Faculty members are remembered, perhaps with some bemusement, on the History Project Web site, as well.

"During my two years in the School of Social Work, I lived in the home of Cornelia Hopkins Allen during her last teaching years," writes a member of the class of 1966.

"I lived in her attic and used to sit on the stairs leading down to her living room as she welcomed guests [like] Margaret Mead. Dr. Allen was an encyclopedia of social welfare knowledge, but at home she would read books about Picasso. The home she shared with her engineer husband was filled with mementos of her worldwide travels and his experiments in the basement. She organized our work that included raking leaves in the fall and shoveling snow in the winter."

Like the rest of the university and the nation, the School of Social Work would feel the effects of campus unrest in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A new governance system was adopted in the school, with students and faculty members having equal power. Civil rights protests, opposition to the Vietnam War and the emergence of anti-establishment and counter-culture ideologies grew. As campus unrest escalated in the spring of 1970, many UB students went out on "strike." A number of social work students joined others to organize a Liberation College in Foster Hall, and a student and faculty member were arrested in separate incidents for interfering with legally constituted authority.

The impact of those actions would affect the School of Social Work for some time to come.

By 1971, the number of faculty members grew to 38, with more than 500 students enrolled in its graduate and undergraduate programs. But shortly after, shrinking state and federal resources began to take its toll on both UB and the School of Social Work.

By 1980, the school had only 12 faculty members and there were concerns that the school would close, but a university task force made a strong recommendation that it be kept open to meet community needs for qualified professionals in the human services fields. The recommendation was supported further by a campaign by faculty, students, alumni, community leaders and legislators to remind university administrators of the important role played by the school and its graduates.

Since then, the school has grown considerably and is again the academic home to more than 500 students in a wide range of programs: Full- and part-time master of social work degrees, a dual-degree JD/MSW program, a bachelor's/master of social work combined degree program and a doctoral program.

The school also has expanded geographically to include part-time programs in Jamestown, Rochester and Corning. A number of research centers also have been established to reflect the school's commitment to community-based research and professional outreach.

As the School of Social Work looks back over nearly 75 years of history, what has it learned?

"In general, we've learned that our school has been tremendously resilient, especially when we consider the period of the early- to mid-1980s, when the school was in jeopardy of being closed," said Coppola. "We've also learned that a critical factor in sustaining and growing the school, including and especially during that difficult period, has been relationships -- within the school, between the school and the larger university, and in the community. Some might argue that relationships were the biggest part of what saved the school, in fact. Dozens if not hundreds of letters from social workers, agency directors and even political leaders were written in opposition to closure of the school in the '80s."

Once it's been gathered, much of the material gleaned from the Social Work History Project will be used to write the School of Social Work's first history book, a project that is scheduled to begin in 2007.

For more information on the UB School of Social Work History Project, or to contribute photos, commencement programs and other memorabilia, contact David Coppola at 829-3991 ext. 129 or email SW-HistoryProject@buffalo.edu. Items also may be sent to: UB School of Social Work History Project, c/o Dave Coppola, 685 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, N.Y. 14260.