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Title: United Community Services Central Files Dates: 1891-1972 (Predominantly, 1920s-1960s) |
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The United Community Services Central Files were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs by United Community Services of Metropolitan Detroit in April of 1982 and were opened for research in June of 1990. Additional records were placed in the Archives by UCS in July of 1987 and July of 1992 and were opened for research in March of 1993.
THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTION APPLIES: NO NAMES APPEARING IN CASE RECORDS MAY BE CITED.
United Community Services and its predecessors, Associated Charities of Detroit, Detroit Community Union, and the Council of Social Agencies of Metropolitan Detroit, were federations of public and private agencies providing social welfare and health care services to needy Detroiters as well as planning organizations engaged in research into the causes of social problems and their solutions.
Although little information is available about the origin of the Central Files, it appears that the newly formed Council of Social Agencies of Metropolitan Detroit (CSA) established the system in the 1930s. Records were apparently divided by subject area, the material in Part I of this collection comprising what were termed the agency files and in Part 2, the divisional files.
Ideally, each CSA department's files dealing with a particular agency or organization were to be sent to the Central Files, where the information could be universally and efficiently retrieved for agency investigations, budget reviews, program evaluations and the like.
In practice, however, only a part of the agency material ever found its way to the Central Files, the rest of it remaining sequestered in individual departmental offices. Consequently, even though the Central Files provide a rich source of documentation on the social pathology of and delivery of social welfare services in Detroit, they are not comprehensive and should be used in conjunction with the divisional files found in Part 2 of the Central Files collection.
The records in Part 2, created primarily from the 1930s through the 1950s, contain the files of the major planning divisions of UCS and its predecessor organizations -- child and family welfare, health care, group work and recreation, and district and community councils -- which were composed of representatives of Detroit's public and private human service agencies or community service organizations and UCS staff members. A series of general subject and administrative files similar to those in Part 1 and a few suburban counsils files are also included.
The Central Files system was abandoned in the late 1950s or early 1960s as antiquated and inefficient.
The United Community Services Central Files provide insight into the social history of metropolitan Detroit during much of the twentieth century, its cultural and racial diversity and tension, and the disruption brought on by economic instability, population shifts, and war. They particularly reflect the attempts of social workers, health care professionals, civic and religious leaders, and ordinary citizens to understand and alleviate the social dislocation caused by poverty.
The district and community councils files provide rare documentation of social and economic conditions In Detroit's neighborhoods during the Depression, World War II, and postwar eras. Additional files relating to the district and community councils may be found in the United Community Services Collection, the Federation of Community Councils Collection, and the Lewis B. Larkin Collection, which is housed in the University Archives.
African Americans in Detroit
Aging
Child/Family Welfare Services
City Planning
Community Organizing
Day Care
Depression/WW II in Detroit
Federated Fund Raising
Health Care
Housing
Immigrants in Detroit
Juvenile Delinquency/Gangs
Neighborhoods in Detroit
Philanthropy
Public/Private Welfare Programs
Race Relations in Detroit
Racial Discrimination in Social Services
Recreational Programs
Religion and Social Welfare Programs
Settlement Houses/Community Centers
Social Dislocation/Poverty in Detroit
Social Welfare
Social Work Profession
Veterans' Services and War Relief
Youth Organizations and Activities
Richard S. Bachman
Florence C. Cassidy
James Couzens
John Dancy
Percival Dodge
Richard F. Huegli
Eleonore L. Hutzel
Fred R. Johnson
Walter C. Laidlaw
Robert 0. Loosley
Robert H. MacRae
Tracy W. McGregor
Irene E. Murphy
William J. Norton
Paul T. Rankin
Claire M. Sanders
George Schermer
Hollis Vick
Related Collections
United Community Services Collections 420-s
197 manuscript boxes
Part 1
Series I, Agencies - Members, 1891-1972, Boxes 1-70:
Correspondence, reports, minutes, and published material relating to the member agencies of United Community Services and its predecessor organizations, both financially and non-financially-participating. To Series
Series II, Agencies - Non-Members, 1914-1965, Boxes 70-93: Correspondence, reports, and published material relating to social service agencies and information and referral organizations, national and local, which were not members of UCS. To Series
Series III, Subject Files, 1915-1969, Boxes 94-114: Correspondence, reports, minutes, and published material on topics and organizations of interest to professional social workers, some of it generated by committees constituted to investigate problems associated with these subjects. To Series
Series IV, Administrative Files, 1917-1965, Boxes 114-124: Correspondence, reports, minutes, and other material relating to the organization and administration of UCS and its predecessor organizations, including those with fund-raising responsibilities. To Series
Series V, Speakers' Bureau, 1922-1947, Boxes 125-128: Correspondence, radio scripts, and campaign material relating to the work of the Speakers' Bureau, a division of the fund-raising arm of UCS whose purpose was to educate potential donors about the benefits of UCS and its member agencies. To Series
Series VI, Chests and Councils - Other Cities, 1919-1960, Boxes 128-130: Correspondence and reports relating to the relationship between UCS executives and their counterparts in community chests and councils of social agencies in other cities. To Series
Part 2
Series VII, General Files, 1907-1962, Boxes 131-156: Correspondence, reports, minutes and published material relating to the administration of United Community Services and its predecessor organizations and to the research interests and programs of its functional divisions. To Series
Series VIII, Child Welfare, 1925-1957, Boxes 157-161: Correspondence, reports, minutes and other material relating to the work of the Child Welfare Division of UCS. To Series
Series IX, Family Welfare, 1934-1954, Boxes 162-164: Correspondence, reports, minutes and other material relating to the work of the Family Welfare Division of UCS. To Series
Series X, Group Work and Recreation, 1935-1961, Boxes 164-171: Correspondence, reports, minutes and other material relating to the work of the Group Work and Recreation Division of UCS. To Series
Series XI, Health, 1925-1958, Boxes 171-175: Correspondence, reports, minutes and other material relating to the work of the Health Division of UCS. To Series
Series XII, District and Communitv Councils, 1931-1954, Boxes 176-195: Correspondence, reports, minutes and other material relating to the work of the District and Community Councils Division of UCS. To Series
Series XIII, Suburban Councils, 1930-1959, Boxes 196-197: Correspondence, reports, minutes and other material relating to the work of the Suburban Councils Division of UCS. To Series
To Part 1 [Large File]
To Part 2 [Large File]
To Part 1Index [Large File]
To Part 2 Index [Large File]