Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was an integral part of the progressive movement, using her passion about social justice and her skills as a journalist to fight for racial and gender equality. She was the first person to document the lynching of African Americans, and lead many anti-lynching campaigns. Wells worked with other organizers of her time to create the foundation for modern social work. She used writing to fight the injustices of her time. She helped found the Alpha Suffrage League, a group for African-American women who supported suffrage, and challenged the National American Woman Suffrage Association because of their exclusion of African American women in their movement. Wells was involved in the founding of the NAACP, and The Negro Fellowship League, as well as many other organizations that fought for equality for all Americans.

George Edmund Haynes (1880-1960) was a social worker, educator, and Co-Founder and first Executive Director of the National Urban League. While studying at the University of Chicago during the summers of 1906 and 1907, Dr. Haynes became interested in social problems affecting Black migrants from the South. This interest led him to the New York School of Philanthropy, from which he graduated in 1910. Two years later he received a PhD from Columbia University. Columbia University Press published his doctoral dissertation, The Negro at Work in New York City.

Within this period, he also involved himself in the activities of the American Association for the Protection of Colored Women; the Committee for Improving the Industrial Conditions of Negroes in New York; and the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes. He was instrumental in merging these groups into one organization, named the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes (NLUCAN), now known as the National Urban League. He served as its Executive Director from 1911-1918.

Earlier, while still a graduate student, he had been Secretary of the Colored Men’s Department of the International Committee of the YMCA. He established the Association of Negro Colleges and Secondary Schools, and served that organization as Secretary from 1910-1918. He also helped the New York School of Philanthropy and NLUCAN in collaborative planning that led to the establishment of the first social work training center for black graduate students at Fisk, and he directed that center from 1910-1918.

He supervised field placements of League fellows at the New York School and was Professor of Economics and Sociology at Fisk. On leave from Fisk from 1918-1921, he served as Director of Negro Economics in the United States Department of Labor. As a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Labor, he was involved in matters of racial conflict in employment, housing, and recreation. He continued his earlier studies of exclusion of black workers from certain trade unions, interracial conditions in the workplace, and child labor. These studies resulted in numerous scholarly works. One of the most significant of these was The Negro at Work During the World War and During Reconstruction. The work’s widespread and profound impact resulted in his appointment as a member of the President’s Unemployment Conference in 1921.

In 1930 he did a survey of the work of the YMCA in South Africa, and in 1947, he conducted a similar study of the organization’s activities in other African nations. These efforts resulted in his being chosen as Consultant on Africa by the World Committee of YMCAs. His book, Trend of the Races (1922), reflected his belief in the union of all people. For the last nine years of his life, he taught at the City College of New York, and served as an Officer of the American Committee on Africa. Dr. Haynes died in New York City in 1960.

William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, PhD (1868-1963), was invited to take a position at University of Pennsylvania to study the “Negro Problem” there, nearly a decade before the University’s School of Social Policy and Practice (formerly Penn School of Social Work) was established, to educate students dedicated to fighting oppression. Through his seminal work, The Philadelphia Negro, Du Bois laid the foundation for empirical social science and a new understanding of racism. Instead of focusing on Black residents as a problem, he transformed this phrase to mean a group of people that faced distinct problems. 

Du Bois identified structural racism and discrimination in the primary domains of their live – health, occupation, employment, education, housing, the environment, voting, and institutional life. He was the first to systematically study the Black community by collecting data using surveys, interviews, and observations along with archival sources, census data, local government reports, and newspapers. He made the argument that anti-Black racism, not Black pathology or Black inferiority, explained poverty and the crime experienced by Black people. 

He highlighted the role of the social and physical environment in shaping the outcomes of Black people and documented inequalities. In his later work, during his years at Atlanta University, Du Bois found similar racial patterns in his work. 

In sum, Du Bois was among the first scholars to emphasize the person in environment (PIE) theory. In Du Bois’ work, he acknowledged Black agency and the contributions of Black people to creating the United States. This reflects a shift from his Settlement House peers that noted deficits among Black people; however, his approach was one of a strengths and asset-based perspective. Du Bois also drew attention to racial disparities in outcomes such as health and criminal justice. Du Bois’ work documented the history and meaning of racialized life, practices, and policies. His work provided the methodological innovations still used by social workers and other social scientists today. Ultimately, his research and writings lifted the veil of racism and provided a voice for those living on the margins.

Lawanna R. Barron, BCD, ACSW, LCSW, served 33 years with the federal government as a Social Worker in the acute psychiatry ward at the Tuskegee, Alabama Department of Veteran Affairs and as a military social worker with the Family Advocacy Program. Prior to these appointments she served as Chief Social Worker at the Medical College of Georgia, Department of Pediatrics Children and Youth Project in Augusta, Georgia. 

Barron worked in private practice and as an instructor for Park University. She is a Board-Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker through the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists. She is also a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.

As a subject matter expert (SME) in preventing and treating child and partner maltreatment with military families, Barron was selected to be a member of many task forces through the Headquarters Air Force Medical Operation Agency. In addition, she served as the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Chief Counselor (collateral duty) and later as an EEO Counselor (collateral duty). 

Recently, as her commitment to the profession of social work and desire to support future social workers in the profession she raised $150,000 through the establishment of endowments with several universities and NASW.

James Russell Dumpson (1909-2012) was a Vice President of the New York Community Trust, one of the nation's largest, oldest and most respected philanthropic organizations and a leader in the community foundation movement. The trust distributes about $60 million each year to projects primarily in the New York City area. Dumpson's pioneering work began in 1959 when he made history by being named Commissioner of Welfare for the City of New York. His appointment was marked as the first time a social worker had held that position. At the time, Dumpson was the only black welfare commissioner in the country. He returned to the city seven years later to become Administrator of the Human Resources Department.

His pioneering work continued as he was also named Dean of Fordham University's School of Social Work. With this appointment he became the first black dean of a non-black school of social work. Fordham later named an endowed academic chair for him. James Dumpson advised presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, serving in his capacity as a social worker on various advisory commissions, including the President's Commission on Narcotics and Drug Abuse. He also was appointed U.N. advisor to the government of Pakistan to help that new government set up schools of social work after its partition from India.

Ivor J. Echols (1919-2000), DSW, made pioneering contributions as an educator, an activist for civil rights and social justice, and as a spokesperson for the social work profession. She inspired hundreds of students and as a leader, strengthened numerous community and national organizations, including NASW and the National Association of Black Social Workers. Throughout her professional and personal life, she worked tirelessly to combat racism and injustice, especially toward the African American community and those living in poverty. She was a leader in national, state, and local organizations.

Echols used her personal experiences with racism, her keen love of social work, and her firm but warm approach to reach students and steer them toward work for social justice. Among her many activities, she led efforts to promote professional civility and unity through her leadership in both NASW and the National Association of Black Social Workers, during the most turbulent years of the 1970s.

Dorothy Irene Height (1912-2010) held many positions in government and social service organizations, but she was best known for her leadership roles in the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), and the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW).Of her years at the YWCA, Dr. Height was proudest of her efforts to direct the attention of the organization to issues of racial justice. During the YWCA's 1946 convention, Dr. Height coordinated the introduction of a policy to integrate its facilities nationwide and was elected National Interracial Education Secretary of the organization. In 1965, the YWCA named Dr. Height the first Director of its new Center for Racial Justice. In 1970, the YWCA National Convention adopted the One Imperative: "To thrust our collective power towards the elimination of racism, wherever it exists by any means necessary."

Dr. Height's ongoing affiliation with The National Council of Negro Women began with her meeting Mary McLeod Bethune, Founder and President of the organization, on November 7, 1937 – a date Dr. Height referred to as the turning point of her life. So began her lifelong affiliation with NCNW - working closely with Mrs. Bethune at first; as the fourth elected President of the organization from 1957 to February 2, 1998 ; and as Chairperson of its Board of Directors and President Emerita starting in 1997. As NCNW President, Dr. Height helped organize and coordinate the 1963 March on Washington. With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, and others, she participated in virtually all major civil and human rights efforts in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. She was in the forefront of the quest and advocacy for women's rights to full and equal employment, pay, and education – in the United States and countries throughout the world.

For her tireless efforts on behalf of the less fortunate, President Ronald Reagan presented her with the Citizens' Medal Award for distinguished service in 1989. Dr. Height received many other awards during her lifetime of service, including more than 24 honorary degrees. In a ceremony honoring her lifetime of achievements, held in the United States Capital Rotunda in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2004, Dr Height was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. She joined the august company of some 300 other Gold Medal recipients, among these, George Washington (the first recipient of the Medal in 1776), Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and Rosa Parks. On September 7, 2004, Dr. Height was inducted into the Democracy Hall of Fame International on the Capitol Hill Campus of the National Graduate University in Washington, D.C.

In her selfless determination and extraordinary leadership in advancing women's rights, and her dedication to the liberation of Black America, Dr. Height fulfilled the dreams of her friend and mentor, Mary McLeod Bethune. She exemplified democracy at its very best and is a "true role model for everyone." Dr. Height passed on April 20, 2010. Her final tribute at the Washington National Cathedral included a eulogy by President Barack Obama. See C-SPAN coverage of her life and legacy.

Dr. Bernice Catherine Harper earned her MSW Degree from the University of Southern California in 1948, her MSc.PH from Harvard University in 1959, and her LLD Degree from Faith Grant College, Birmingham, Alabama. She was instrumental in developing long-term program policies, which highlight continuity-of-care, including community, and institutional care, and stresses the importance of psychosocial components. Her commitment to the long-term care of those in need has served to demonstrate the best of the best for the profession and for those in need. Her insight and commitment to professionals, especially social workers, who are under both personal and professional stress as they work with patients in the final phases of their lives, combined with her perspective, academic, and practice skills with their families, motivated her to produce a definitive publication on death and the special needs for professionals to cope with their related stress. The book, Death: The Coping Mechanism of the Health Professional, was in advance of the interest now placed on this area. Harper identified and labeled specific stages of coping with death that are important to understand, especially for professionals living through the process with clients.

She is nationally-recognized for her work and is sought after for training workshops and conferences. Bernice Harper has consistently been referred to as the professional's professional. She has been able to represent social work values and bring them into policy statements. She is a personification of social work's value base and has sustained that consistency in the Washington scene through multiple and changing administrations as well as political appointees. She has not compromised the long-term health care needs of those in the country. She also has worked with multiple government organizations around minority services and activities for professional as well as other educational needs.

Harper serves on the Board of Directors for the NASW Foundation and has been active and held leadership positions at NASW and the International Conference on Social Welfare. She was the first recipient of the NASW Foundation's Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement in Health/Mental Health Policy Award. In 2017, Harper was inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction.

Whitney Moore Young, Jr. (1921-1971), was the son of a Kentucky educator. He graduated from Kentucky State College at 18 and became a high school teacher and coach. From 1942 to 1944, while in the U.S. Army, he studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After his discharge, he received an MSW from the University of Minnesota (1947) and began to work with the Urban League in Minnesota . He became executive secretary of the Urban League in Omaha , Nebraska (1950), taught social work at the University of Nebraska and Creighton University , and became dean of the Atlanta University School of Social Work (1954).

In 1961 Young was appointed executive director of the National Urban League, remaining there until his death. (He drowned during a visit to Nigeria ). He became president of the National Conference on Social Welfare in 1965 and president of NASW in 1969. [Young was elected a NASW Social Work Pioneer in 1993]. A noted civil rights leader and statesman, he worked to eradicate discrimination against blacks and poor people. He served on numerous national boards and advisory committees and received many honorary degrees and awards —including the Medal of Freedom (1969), presented by President Lyndon Johnson—for his outstanding civil rights accomplishments. Young's books include "Beyond Racism: Building an Open Society" (1969). Peebles-Wilkins, W. (1995). Young, Whitney Moore Jr. In R.L. Edwards (Ed.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Social Work (19th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 2618-2619). Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.

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