“I’ll Find a Way or Make One”: Atlanta University and the Emergence of Professional Social Work Education in the Deep South

ABSTRACT

Atlanta University, W.E.B. Du Bois, and professional social work education are forever linked in social thought, social reform, and progressive thinking that served African Americans. As a nascent profession in the first half of the 20th century, social work in the South navigated existing racialized customs and laws that required dual systems. The Atlanta School would become the first professional School of Social Work in the deep South and the first to address the needs of a black professional social work workforce in the region. Implication of this School’s emergence and its role in contributing to innovations in strength perspective, critical race theory, spirituality, empowerment, and research in social work education will be discussed.

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Notes on contributors

June G. Hopps

June G. Hopps is the Thomas M. “Jim” Parham Professor of Family and Children Studies in the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

Tony B. Lowe

Tony B. Lowe is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

Obie Clayton

Obie Clayton is the Edmund Asa Ware Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology at Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA.