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Therese Weil Lansburgh received an A.B. from Smith College in 1940. She went on to earn a M.S.W. from the Tulane University School of Social Work, circa 1942. From 1943-45 she was a case worker with the American Red Cross in Boston, Massachusetts, and from 1947-49 was a visiting teacher in Columbus, Mississippi, where she started that state's first class for retarded children. She worked as a social worker for the Children's Guild in Baltimore, Maryland from 1959-61, and from 1963-65 as a caseworker for the Department of Mental Hygiene in Glen Burnie, Maryland. From 1967-71, she was President of the Day Care and Child Development Council of America. In 1970, she served as Vice-Chairman of the Developmental Child Care Forum of the White House Conference on Children. The recommendations of the Forum formed the basis of the Child Development Act of 1971, which was passed by Congress, but vetoed by President Richard M. Nixon. From 1983-87, Lansburgh served as Director of Education and Public Policy at the Regional Center for Infants and Young Children in Rockville, Maryland.
Throughout her long career, Lansburgh has championed the rights and interests of children, her most passionate cause perhaps being to force affordable day care onto the national agenda. Above and beyond her career as a social worker, she has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for a broad range of state and national children's agencies and has served on the boards of many of them. Lansburgh has also written prolifically about day care and has given many speeches on the subject. Her resume boasts a long list of honors and awards for her work. Therese Weil Lansburgh died September 2002. She is survived by her daughter, Deborah (Wolff) Adler and son, Randolph Wolff.
The collection includes personal and professional papers documenting Lansburgh's career as a social worker and champion for the rights of children, and especially for affordable day care. Types of materials include biographical material and financial records; personal and professional correspondence; writings and speeches; and material pertaining to many of the social service organizations in which Lansburgh was involved, including minutes, press releases, correspondence, and programs of events.
The papers are open to research use according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
This collection has not been fully processed and therefore may be difficult to use.
Copyright to unpublished materials may be owned by the creator, or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Therese Weil Lansburgh Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Periodic additions to collection are expected and may not be reflected in this record.