Grace Abbott (1878–1939), was a tireless and brilliant social reformer in the early twentieth century who contributed to the development of social programs that safeguarded mothers and children, protected immigrants from abuse, and rescued child laborers from the appalling conditions of the time.

Recently in the Lincoln alternative paper, Prairie Fire, Jane Renner Hood wrote a two-part series on Grace Abbott and her workings in the United States. The first article gives a brief bio of Abbott and describes her work with the Immigrants Protective League, and the second article considers her work as “…the nation’s foremost voice for children during the Progressive Era up through the early years of the New Deal with her work in the U.S. Children’s Bureau.”

If you would like to discover Abbott’s insightful words first hand, the University of Nebraska Press published The Grace Abbott Reader (2008), which is a collection of her most influential writings. It is the first collection of Abbott’s stirring words, showing that the causes she pursued with fiery conscience and fierce determination are as relevant in our day as they were in hers.