Message from NASW Archivist, Nancy Perlman:

Welcome to the NASW Archives and “The LEGACY Project.” One of the first tasks of the archivist in a project such as this is to research the history and evolution of the organization which created the archival records - in this case, NASW and its predecessors. Wonderful and easily accessible sources for this research are the in-house publications of the organization. In 2005, NASW celebrated its 50th anniversary as an incorporated entity formed by the merger in 1955 of seven organizations of professional social workers, so I began my research with the first issue of the NASW News (Volume 1, Number 1, November 1955).  NASW holds a complete bound set of the publication, and what a wealth of information is contained in its pages!  The photograph on this page shows the first NASW Delegate Assembly in the process of casting their votes on a controversial motion. The image was published in NASW News , Volume 2, Number 1, November 1956, page 4, accompanying an article describing the actions taken by the delegates on that occasion; some delegates' impressions of the Assembly appear on the following page of that issue. NASW looks forward to sharing more NASW Archives Project news and photographs with you as we continue to assemble documentation of the history of NASW - and its contributions and those of its leaders to the profession of social work.  Thank you for generously supporting the LEGACY Project.

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