| Creator | Solomon, Maida Herman, 1891-1988 |
| Title | Maida Herman Solomon papers |
| Dates | 1934-1979 |
| Identification | MS 21 |
| Quantity | 21 linear feet (14 record cartons) |
| Collection Abstract | The Maida Herman Solomon papers focus primarily on her career at the Simmons College School of Social Work, which spanned the years from 1934-57. The bulk of this material falls into the period of 1940-57 when the School was under the directorship of Katharine Davis Hardwick (1929-1952) and Robert Rutherford (1952-1971). The Solomon papers documents the development of the Simmons College School of Social Work and Solomon's major role in specialized versus generic social work education, especially in the field of psychiatric social work education. |
| Historical Abstract | Maida Herman Solomon, pioneer in the field of psychiatric social work, was born in Boston on March 9, 1891. She received her A.B. from Smith College (1912) and her S.B. from Simmons College (1914). Solomon's professional career as a psychiatric social worker, educator, researcher, and practitioner began in 1914 in Boston as a researcher for the Civil Service House. 1n l934, she joined the Simmons College School of Social Work faculty to further develop the psychiatric social work program, already in existence for two years. Her work at Simmons included teaching, conducting an advanced seminar for second year students, and administering the psychiatric social work program. Maida Herman Solomon was a charter member of the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers (AAPSW), and its first president, 1926-28. In 1957, she retired from Simmons, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Social Economy. After her retirement, she remained a member of the NASW and the Massachusetts Association of Mental Health and worked as a consultant to the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (formerly Boston Psychopathic Hospital). |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open; some restrictions apply. Student records and course materials, interviews, personnel records, case material, and the oral history outline are restricted. Access to some materials must adhere to general guidelines for College records. A * symbol in the container list indicates restricted files. Consult the College Archivist for a further explanation.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Maida Herman Solomon papers, MS 21, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Records were transferred to the Simmons College Archives in several groups: (1) from the Schlesinger Library, June 1977 and September 1983 and (2) directly from Maida Herman Solomon, October 1977, August 1978, August 1979, and May, June and October 1980.
Accession number: 78.2; 78.120; 78.207; 79.1; 79.25; 79.45; 79.69; 79.81; 80.38; 80.49; 83.46
Processed by Nancy Richard, July 1984
Supervised by Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, July 1984
Updated December 1987
Updated by Claire Goodwin, November 2003
The processing of this collection was funded in part by a grant from LTC. Moxie F. Goll (Ret.).
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Alyson Bowers, September 2013.
Maida Herman Solomon, pioneer in the field of psychiatric social work, was born in Boston on March 9, 1891, the daughter of Joseph Michael and Hennie (Adler) Herman. She received her A.B. from Smith College (1912) and her S.B. from Simmons College (1914). In 1916, she married Dr. Harry Caesar Solomon, a psychiatrist and later Medical Director of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital.
Solomon's professional career as a psychiatric social worker, educator, researcher, and practitioner began in 1914 in Boston as a researcher for the Civil Service House.(1) She continued as a psychiatric social worker at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital (BPH) from 1916-19, where she worked with neuro-syphilitic patients as a field worker under Mary Jarrett.(2) She continued at BPH as a part-time consultant while raising her four children. In 1934, she joined the Simmons College School of Social Work faculty to further develop the psychiatric social work program, already in existence for two years. Working with Katharine Davis Hardwick, she developed the first program specializing in psychiatric social work to integrate academic training led by practicing professionals with fieldwork practice and individual tutorials.(3) This training was discontinued in 1918 when Mary Jarrett was hired to develop a more complete course at Smith College in response to the increasing numbers of shell shocked victims of World War I. Prior to these developments, caseworkers had placed the cause of many social problems primarily on economic factors. The mental hygiene movement and the work of Sigmund Freud in psychiatry began to shift this focus. World War I increased the awareness of mental illness and schools of social work were established in Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Simmons College School of Social Work became the first school in the country to be affiliated with an institute of higher learning for full-time education of social workers.
Her work at Simmons included teaching, conducting an advanced seminar for second year students, and administering the psychiatric social work program. In 1942 she was appointed head of the Department of Psychiatric Social Work. She wrote grants, raised scholarship money, established field work positions, directed fieldwork supervision and sought employment for graduating students.
Solomon's personal interest in her students' professional development took her beyond her duties as an administrator and teacher. According to Solomon, she corresponded with all 475 graduates, often suggesting new jobs or helping them re-enter the field after an absence.(4) In the tradition of her days as an early suffragist, she encouraged a part-time program at Simmons that would allow married women to have a career outside the home. The network she created of supportive social service agencies assured high professional standards for Simmons graduates, and often brought new students into the program.
Solomon was a charter member of the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers (AAPSW), and its first president, 1926-28. She was a member of its Sub-Committee on Educational Standards and she used her work at Simmons to develop national standards for psychiatric social work curricula. She was part of the Temporary Inter-Association Council (TIAC) which planned a single, unified social work organization from specialized groups such as the AAPSW. She also was active in the National Association of Social Workers when it was formed in 1955. Her contributions to the field of social work include her active memberships in professional associations, volunteer work, and the authorship of numerous books and articles. Her positions and memberships in associations included: chair, Advisory Committee on Psychiatric Social Work for the American Red Cross, 1940-45; chair, Social Service Committee of the Beth Israel Hospital; vice-president, Massachusetts Society of Mental Hygiene; vice-president and board member, Hecht House; American Association of Medical Social Workers; New England Round Table of Psychiatric Social Workers; executive board, Jewish Family Welfare Society; and the Jewish Child Welfare Association.(5) She was the only woman on the Central Budget Committee of the Boston Community Fund where she served as chair, 1935-44. According to Solomon, she was also the first Jewish woman faculty member at Simmons.(6) Early in her career, she was nominated by Mary Jarrett to be a member of the Monday Lunch Club, a discussion group of social work executives. This group included Katharine Davis Hardwick, Eva Whiting White, Kate McMahon and Alice Channing. (7)
In 1957, she retired from Simmons as Professor Emeritus of the Department of Social Economy. After her retirement, she remained a member of the NASW and the Massachusetts Association of Mental Health and worked as a consultant to the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (formerly Boston Psychopathic Hospital). She was an active member in the Simmons College School of Social Work Committee for the Harriett Bartlett - Maida Herman Solomon Award, established in their honor by former students for distinguished or original papers by Simmons College students and alumni. In addition to her participation on this committee, she stimulated research projects among social workers as a founding member of the Maida H. Solomon Research Association. (8)
The Maida Herman Solomon papers focus primarily on her career at the Simmons College School of Social Work, which spanned the years from 1934-57. The bulk of this material falls into the period of 1940-57 when the School was under the directorship of Katharine Davis Hardwick (1929-1952) and Robert Rutherford (1952-1971).
The collection contains correspondence, reports, student records, student interviews, curriculum materials, minutes, lecture notes, student papers and notebooks, case records, grant applications, employment records, statistical data and an outline of the oral history interview conducted in 1976-78 by Anne Evans, psychiatric social worker at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston State Hospital and literary executor of the Maida Solomon papers. The records in this collection document the development of the Simmons College School of Social Work and Solomon's major role in specialized versus generic social work education, especially in the field of psychiatric social work education. Of particular note are records documenting the vocational focus of the program; the development of first and second year casework training under the supervision of Solomon; and the statistics gathered dealing with the careers of graduates from the first years of the program.
Also of interest are memos and correspondence to Solomon's co-workers including Louise Bandler, Eunice Allen, Harriett Bartlett, Alice Channing, Ruth Lloyd, and Kate McMahon and to lecturers including Grete Bibring, Felix Deutsch, Eleanor Pavenstedt, Eveoleen Rexford, Hans Sachs and Charlotte Towle. Materials which deal with Solomon's professional life outside of Simmons are held at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Radcliffe College and the William E. Wiener Oral History Library of the American Jewish Committee.
An effort was made at Simmons to organize the papers according to an outline of Solomon's office files. The content of most folders remains in the original order.(See arrangement details in the preliminary register in MS 21 office control file).
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into 8 series:
Arranged chronologically
This series contains biographical information, a list of Solomon's publications, excerpts from Who's Who in New England and printed materials describing her career. Correspondence concerns Solomon's retirement in 1957 from the Simmons School of Social Work. Letters are from Eva Whiting White, Katharine Davis Hardwick, Bancroft Beatley, Robert Rutherford, Ida Cannon and other colleagues and students. There are also awards and honors, salary information, newspaper clippings, tributes, and a list of sponsors of the Harriett Bartlett - Maida Herman Solomon Award. An outline of an oral history interview conducted in 1976-78 by Anne Evans, concerns Solomon's years at Simmons. In addition to the oral history is an outline of the follow-up interview in 1978, and an interview in 1977 with Mary Sullivan, Solomon's personal secretary of sixteen years.
Series contains some restricted materials.
Box 1
Restricted.
Arranged chronologically
Records pertaining to Solomon's duties as an administrator at the Simmons School of Social Work and her role in the development of psychiatric social work education are included in this series. The records show Solomon's role in the development of the social work curriculum both at Simmons with Katharine Davis Hardwick, and nationally in her association with the AAPSW and the American Association of Schools of Social Work (AASSW). Materials describe her influence in the development of programs with a generic focus to those with specialties in psychiatric, medical, children's social work and community organization. Contained in this series are her ideas about part-time students. Also included are minutes and notes from faculty meetings attended by Richard Cabot, Katharine Davis Hardwick, Alice Channing, Ruth Lloyd, Kate McMahon and Eva Whiting White, and reports to Simmons College President Bancroft Beatley which contain detailed descriptions of program changes. Of interest is the Day Study, conducted by Mrs. Hilbert F. Day, to evaluate the quality of Simmons College students and graduates and determine prerequisite requirements for development of a graduate program. In addition, Solomon's other administrative duties are recorded in Library Committee notes, Simmons Bulletin changes, notes on the 1936 and 1938 Open House, and materials from the 1940-43 Faculty Committee on Defense.
Records of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Training Grant include grant applications, reports, conference proceedings from 1950 and 1951, and a five-year review of the program including descriptions of the training units at Boston State Hospital under the supervision of Helen Domey, and the unit at Beth Israel Hospital under Martha Waldstein, Solomon's successor at Simmons. Correspondence with Dr. Jean Arsenian, research consultant hired under a NIMH grant to explore research for psychiatric social workers in mental hospitals and outpatient clinics, is included in this series along with minutes of the Simmons Research Committee of 1954.
Series contains some restricted materials.
Box 2
Box 1
Restricted.
Box 1
Box 1
Box 1
Restricted.
Box 1
Restricted.
Box 1
Box 1
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Arranged chronologically
Materials regarding the curriculum of the School of Social Work is divided between coursework, field work, theses, oral exams and individual tutorials. This series consists of five subseries.
Series contains some restricted materials.
These records begin with Solomon's "Working Kits" which consist of organizational materials for the psychiatric social work program gathered each summer for the following fall semester. These materials include correspondence with lecturers and instructors, correspondence with first- and second-year students about field work placement, with field work supervisors, and memos to the secretarial staff about preparation of mimeographed materials. Working kits also include restricted materials regarding lecturers' salaries and student scholarships. General administrative materials include class lists, memos to Katharine Davis Hardwick regarding course changes, placement materials, course schedules, evaluations and outlines of lectures and seminars. General administrative materials duplicate some of the working kit materials, but are often dated later in the year. They also contain handwritten notes and evaluations, although most of the student evaluation material is found in the Field Work subseries. Of particular interest in this subseries is a speech delivered in 1935 by Solomon to undergraduates about the history of psychiatric social work, (Box 10, F. 2).
Box 2
Box 3
Box 3
Box 4
In this subseries, material is arranged by course number (number changes are noted), and divided into first-, second-year and extension courses, and Solomon's notebooks with notes on courses. Also included are course outlines, reading lists, memos and correspondence with instructors, Solomon's notes and evaluations of courses, suggestions for changes in courses, student papers and grades, student lists, exam questions, reserve reading lists, student evaluations of courses, and instructors' evaluations of students. Solomon's influence on the content and structure of the program is evident by her comments and correspondence with Katharine Davis Hardwick about the psychiatric as well as the medical and children's social work curriculum. Included are supplementary project materials consisting of printed materials, clippings, correspondence, reading lists, student papers, and notes. This is background material for Solomon's Reading Seminar for second year students, and is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Box 4
End of 11a Social Agencies, Katherine Davis Hardwick subseries.
Box 4
End of 11(?) subseries.
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 4
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 5
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
Box 6
End of Psychiatric Social Work subseries.
Box 7
Included here are the administrative records of the Field Work division of the social work curriculum which contain the bulk of student evaluations, field work placements, schedules, scholarship information, correspondence with field work supervisors and grades. Much of this material is related to curriculum administrative materials. Box 28, folders 6-10 contain alphabetized correspondence with field agencies from 1943-1947 arranging student placements (see index for a list of the agencies); additional correspondence is scattered throughout this series. Supervision records (1936-1950) show Solomon's role as administrator of field work supervision and her ideas on grading and evaluation of field work. Included are memos from Katharine Hardwick, minutes from field guide meetings led by Solomon, agendas for Associates meetings (Associates bridge gap between field and class KDH memo to MHS Box 29, folder 1), correspondence with field guides, summaries of ideas from meetings, and data sheets about field guides (1949-1950). Also included with field supervision material is a 1955-56 outline of second year field work objectives written by Solomon. Reports from the Research Committee of Field Supervisors of the Simmons College School of Social Work are related to research materials by Eleanor Gay (Box 6, folders 12-13) and material by Georgia Hotchkiss (Box 22, folder 6). Between 1937 and 1955, student fieldwork notebooks, were required periodically for all second year students. Students experience, views on casework, feelings about supervision and evidence of integration of theoretical material with field work experience is recorded in these notebooks. Of interest is an analysis of these notebooks written by field supervisor Helen Domey (Boston State Hospital), presented to a field work supervision meeting in 1960.
Restricted.
Box 7
Box 8
Box 9
Restricted.
Box 9
Restricted.
Box 9
Box 10
Box 11
Restricted.
Theses were a requirement of all second year students for graduation from the Masters program. Thesis materials consist of proposed topics, schedules, notes, student evaluations and a paper by Solomon entitled, "Why do students have problems with thesis [sic]?". Printed materials include an AAPSW newsletter of psychiatric social work theses for the year 1957 and a pamphlet of published theses funded by Solomon from her teaching budget in 1957.
Box 11
Restricted.
Orals were a requirement for graduation from the Masters program until 1955 when Robert Rutherford suspended them against the advisement of Maida Herman Solomon and Katharine Davis Hardwick. These materials consist of suggested questions, student evaluations, note cards, and schedules.
Box 12
Arranged chronologically
This series contains material on the employment of graduates gathered independently by Maida Herman Solomon and incorporated into her role as an administrator of the psychiatric social work program. The personal interest she took in her students, her commitment to their professional development, and the extent of the network she created among outside agencies is evident in this material. Included in this series are student records stating job preferences, correspondence with agencies regarding openings and salaries, correspondence and periodic questionnaires sent to graduates, student placement files, resumes, recommendations, and memos to Katharine Davis Hardwick on the vocational status of graduates and statistical data compiled from questionnaires. Placement forms sent to graduates in 1947 are arranged by year of graduation, and alphabetically by student name. Attached to these forms is student correspondence to Solomon giving personal and professional status.
Series contains some restricted materials.
Restricted.
Box 12
Restricted.
Box 12
Restricted.
Box 12
Box 12
Arranged by organization
This series contains materials reflecting some of the professional organizations Solomon was involved with during her career at Simmons. Materials contained in this series represent generally her involvement in the development of psychiatric social work curricula and are related to Series II, Curriculum Development. Minimal documentation of her association with the AASSW (TIAC and NASW), with the AAPSW, the AASW Boston Chapter, and the Massachusetts Society for Social Hygiene are contained here.
The AASSW materials are limited to a few newsletters, reports of curriculum committees, some printed materials, and Solomon's handwritten notes from a meeting in St. Louis of the National Committee on Social Work Education.
Records of the AAPSW (1934-52) consist of reports of the committee to set basic, minimal standards for the psychiatric social work curriculum. This committee was formed in 1936 to continue the work of Charlotte Towle's Sub-Committee on Classroom Content in Professional Education formed in 1935. Comments by Solomon as chair of this advisory committee on Towle's report are included in this material as well as memos and correspondence of the Executive Committee of AAPSW, minutes of the AAPSW Sub-Committee on Curriculum (1949) and notes from conferences.
Records of the Massachusetts Society for Social Hygiene, Inc. (1938-41) include correspondence and a questionnaire to physicians dealing with prevention of syphilis and gonorrhea. (The majority of the Society's papers are held at the Schlesinger Library.) Related to this material is correspondence requesting Solomon to attend a meeting of the Massachusetts State Health Commission Committee on Syphilis and Gonorrhea Control (1936).
Also included in this series are the records of the Central Budget Committee of the Greater Boston Community Fund (1942-49) including the records of the Group Budget Committee on Children's Agencies which Solomon chaired. Minutes of the Budget Committee Meetings, correspondence with children's agencies dealing with budgets, recommendations of the budget committee and summary sheets from Massachusetts children's agencies (1940-45) are contained as well.
The Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, holds the majority of materials dealing with her professional career outside Simmons.
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
End of Curriculum Committee materials subseries.
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
Box 13
End of Group Budget Committee records subseries.
Box 13
Box 14
Arranged chronologically
In 1957, both Harriett Bartlett and Maida Herman Solomon retired from the Simmons College School of Social Work. In their honor, student and alumni of the school established an award for distinguished papers by Simmons students and alumni. Solomon became an active member of the award committee. This series contains a selection of the papers submitted to the committee during the years 1966-78. Also included are evaluative comments by Solomon, and correspondence with other committee members. These papers are valuable for what they indicate of developing trends in psychiatric, medical, and children's social work.
Series contains some restricted materials.
Box 14
Box 14
Arranged by type
This series contains miscellaneous printed materials found scattered among the Solomon papers. It includes two reprints of Solomon's publications in 1961 and 1974, conference programs 1942-53, association brochures, periodical publications, and a government publication containing a NASW statement on Psychiatric social work as a specialty. Other printed materials have been removed to the School of Social Work Annual Report Collection.
Box 14
Arranged by type
Two photographs comprise this series: a print of a photograph in the Maida Herman Solomon Papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, of Maida Herman Solomon (far right), Mary C. Jarrett (left) and an unknown woman in the office of Boston Psychopathic Hospital and a print of the bronze bust of Maida Herman Solomon given to the Simmons College School of Social Work.
Box 14
