The Scholarship and Guidance Association (Chicago, Ill.) Records

An inventory of its records held at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Biography of

The Joint Committee of Vocational Training of Girls was established in 1911 for the purpose of securing employment for girls who dropped out of school at age 14. Anne Davis, a social worker, directed the committee with the able assistance of Edith Abbott, Sophonisba Breckinridge and Mrs. Addison W. Moore, the first president. The Chicago Woman's Aid, the Woman's City Club and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae were three clubs that provided financial support. This new institution was created by the reformist circles close to Hull-House and academics trained in the emerging professional discipline of sociology then developing at the University of Chicago.

Services were expanded to include boys in 1912, and the committee changed its name to Joint Committee for Vocational Supervision. The goals of the Joint Committee were to secure employment for boys and girls age 14 to 16 years or to give them loans to continue in school; to cooperate with other agencies assisting children of working age; and to convince the Chicago Board of Education that it should provide these services.

The Chicago Board of Education assumed responsibility for the vocational bureau in 1913, but financial support for scholarships and salaries was still privately funded. By 1916 the Board of Education was directing the work of the bureau and paying for salaries and office expenses. The bureau was now known as the Vocational Supervision League. The League provided vocational planning and job placement for physically handicapped children. League supporters lobbied to support compulsory education for all children up to 16 years of age. The Vocational Supervision League became the Children's Scholarship League in 1930.

The Vocational Supervision League combined with the Committee on Scholarship for Jewish Children (founded in 1915 by the Chicago Woman's Aid as an auxiliary body to the VSL and later known as the Scholarship Association for Jewish Children) to form one non-sectarian interracial agency helping all children. It was known as the Children's Scholarship Association until 1945 when the group adopted its present name, the Scholarship and Guidance Association (SGA). The SGA continues to provide a wide array of social services including training and support for guidance personnel in Chicago area schools, in-depth research about problems faced by youth, and support for at-risk communities such as homeless children.

Scope and Contents

These records consist of correspondence, reports, minutes, photographs, clippings, leaflets, fliers, theses, speeches, tape recordings, records, newsletters, certificates and bulletins pertaining to the operational procedures and activities of the Scholarship and Guidance Association and its predecessors , including material on adolescents, educational and vocational aims, Jewish Vocational Service and Employment Center of Chicago, employment of youth, vocational supervision and guidance, scholarships, Illinois Child Labor Law, child welfare, Chicago Woman's Aid and Chicago Board of Education. The Scholarship and Guidance Association Records are divided into two series: Manuscript Materials and Case Files.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Use

The use of materials in Series II: Box 11-21 Case Files is restricted.

Detailed Description/Box and Folder Listing