Case #368.0

Mary Anderson and the Women's Bureau

Publication Date: January 01, 1981
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Abstract:
In 1887 sixteen-year-old Mary Anderson and her sister left their native Sweden in search of better economic opportunities in the United States. This search led Anderson into the growing trade union movement in the book and shoe industries. This case offers a brief sketch of her life, including her involvement in a variety of union organizing activities and her eventual appointment as director of the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor. The case concludes at the beginning of the Roosevelt administration, when she became involved in a damaging controversy with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. The Anderson Hypothetical case centers on this dispute. The reader is asked to advise Anderson on how to react to Perkins' decision to consolidate the Women's and the Children's Bureaus. This is one in a series of cases which illustrate the uses-of-history method of "placing people;" it is particularly useful in conjunction with the Frances Perkins case (C14-81-369.0). For further discussion of the "placing people" method, see the abstract for Vietnam Advisers (C14-80-272.0).

Other Details

Teaching Plan:
Available with Educator Access
Case Author:
William Powers, Miriam Goodman
Faculty Lead:
Melanie Billings-Yun, Richard Neustadt, Ernest May
Pages (incl. exhibits):
27
Setting:
United States
Language:
English