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About SSA

SSA's Origins

Chicago Commons in 1894At right is a picture of Chicago Commons, founded in 1894. It was here, beginning in 1895, the School of Social Economics, which later became SSA, offered the earliest social work course offerings of any school in the U.S.

Counted among those who taught at the Chicago Commons School were Jane Addams, social reformer; John Dewey, educator; and Charles Henderson, social reform and sociology.

Graham Taylor, founder of the The School of Social EconomicsGraham Taylor (pictured right), minister and social work educator, served as president and founder of The School of Social Economics. Under his leadership, the program grew into the first year-long social work educational program in the nation, the Social Science Center for Practical Training in Philanthropic and Social Work, established in 1903.

By 1908, SSA's predecessor again changed its name to the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, still under the leadership of Graham Taylor. We celebrate 1908 as the birth of SSA, the first two-year social work program. Julia Lathrop served as vice-president and Jane Addams and Julius Rosenwald were included among its trustees.

In 1920, the School merged as a graduate school of the University of Chicago and became known from that point on as the School of Social Service Administration.

Photos from Graham Taylor, Pioneer for Social Justice 1851-1938, by Louis Wade, University of Chicago Press, 1964.

Click here to view a timeline of SSA's history

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