This dissertation examines the School of Social Work at the University of South Carolina from 1934-1954. This first attempt at establishing a school of social work failed after twenty years of inconsistent performance. The primary concern of the study is to uncover and describe the events that led to the closing of the school. To that end, the full history of the school is examined within its social and political contexts using a historical narrative methodology. As a result of this study, I conclude that although discrimination based on gender and race had an indirect on the School's failure to succeed, a lack of effective educational leadership directly led to the closing.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation examines the School of Social Work at the University of South Carolina from 1934-1954. This first attempt at establishing a school of social work failed after twenty years of inconsistent performance. The primary concern of the study is to uncover and describe the events that led to the closing of the school. To that end, the full history of the school is examined within its social and political contexts using a historical narrative methodology. As a result of this study, I conclude that although discrimination based on gender and race had an indirect on the School's failure to succeed, a lack of effective educational leadership directly led to the closing.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Townsend, Elaine Walker"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD","degree_level":"Campus Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"College of Social Work","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Naomi Farber"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:43Z","subjects":["Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social Work","Commission for Interracial Cooperation","Conference of Social Work","gender","social work education","South Carolina","southern progressivism"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2009, Elaine Walker Townsend"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/103","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Naomi Farber"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Townsend, Elaine Walker"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["College of Social Work"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social Work","Commission for Interracial Cooperation","Conference of Social Work","gender","social work education","South Carolina","southern progressivism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2009, Elaine Walker Townsend"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/103"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation examines the School of Social Work at the University of South Carolina from 1934-1954. This first attempt at establishing a school of social work failed after twenty years of inconsistent performance. The primary concern of the study is to uncover and describe the events that led to the closing of the school. To that end, the full history of the school is examined within its social and political contexts using a historical narrative methodology. As a result of this study, I conclude that although discrimination based on gender and race had an indirect on the School's failure to succeed, a lack of effective educational leadership directly led to the closing.
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