\ Birdeye Henrietta Haynes

Answer

1. • Birdye Henrietta Haynes and the Legacy of her Social Work

     For most African Americans, the late 19^th century and early 20^th century were marked by increased economic and social hardships, discriminatory regulation practices by the government and exclusion from the existing labour markets. The social hardships that included Jim Crowism, neglect and sharecropper system motivated several female African American reformers to venture into the field of social work as they felt excluded from the emerging White social service system. This paper looks at the path Birdye Henrietta Haynes took to working in the social work field, assessing her notable contributions in these early years and considers how studying her would inform my practice as a social worker.

     Birdye Haynes, like many Black people of her era grew up poor and attended a segregated inadequate primary school. It in these early formative years that the need to improve the lives of her fellow African Americans, especially females, became clear to her. Later, Birdye Haynes would attend Fisk University in Nashville, graduating in 1909 (Earl 2010). After this, she began to work for different social service causes but eventually went back to the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, graduating in 1914 and making history in the process—she was the first black woman to graduate. At this point, she was a professionally trained social worker. Birdye worked closely with George Haynes, her brother and himself a well-known social worker (Carlton-LaNey, 1994). In large part though, the choice of social work for Birdye Haynes was a response to the progressive tendencies of this era in which there was a desire for better living conditions for African Americans.

     Birdye understood that social work was inextricably connected to getting a decent education. It is little wonder then that she was focused on educating the black woman, teaching Domestic Science at Pearl High School in the winter of 1908 and also at a High school in Corsicana Texas (Iris 1996). Birdye’s other contribution was in the realm of voluntarism in social work. Birdye drew from her Christian upbringing, Fisk University education and the selfless desire to provide help to volunteer in several places like Mother’s Clubs, Young People’s Societies and at Illinois Children’s Home and Aid Society. In addition, Birdye founded settlements that focused on direct services, civil rights fight and moral uplifting of people (Jerome 2017). As the head matron at Chicago’s Wendell Phillips Settlement from 1911-1915, Birdye was considered ill-prepared to handle the money and manage the facility well. As a committed social worker, she had to be diplomatic and tactful as she interacted with educators, advisory boards and clients who demanded success but much more often, expected failure (Tricia et al. 2017). Birdye relentlessly fought to ward off the scepticism that was prevailing against Club women and the reformers in general. She had faith that through social work, many obstacles could be overcome.

     As a social worker, the study of Birdye would help me put my social work into context. Birdye used social work to solve some of the civil rights issues that African Americans had at her time. Borrowing from this, I can also use social work within the context of racial tensions, income inequality and other emerging issues that face people and threaten a peaceful coexistence right now. Studying her would also be vital in helping me understand the role of being volunteers in the call for the improvement of people’s social welfare. Finally, I would also study her as an example of the role of education in social work following her tenacious actions of breaking barriers at a time of little opportunity for the sake of social work.

                 Birdye Haynes was a significant figure in the early years of social work especially among black communities. Her role in voluntarism, the settlements and education have earned her a place in the history of notable social work greats. Her contributions, though very significant in her era, can still be applied even in the modern time.