A Small Contribution

“What is a great man who has made his mark upon history? Every time, if we think far enough, he is a man who has looked through the confusion of the moment and has seen the moral issue involved; he is a man who has refused to have his sense of justice distorted; he has listened to his conscience until conscience becomes a trumpet call to like-minded men so that they gather about him, and together, with mutual purpose and mutual aid, they make a new period in history” (

Jane Addams,

1860–1935).

This is a quote from Jane Addams, the great American settlement activist, reformer, public administrator, and author who was born in 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois, and died in 1935 in Chicago, Illinois. She is without a doubt one of the most important leaders in the history of social work. Her twenty years at Hull House are a testimony of her service to those segments of our population that were in dire need for assistance.

Social workers all over our land are carrying her torch in the search of truth and knowledge. We feel most honored to be the heirs of this great tradition of service. We as a nation are beginning to value the importance of trained social workers to intervene following a crisis.

A Small Contribution: Memoirs of a Social Worker is both an inspiration and a tool for those men and women in the trenches, heirs of the legacy of the founders of the social work profession.