Winston, Ellen, 1903-1984

Ellen Black Winston was born in Bryson City, North Carolina, on August 15, 1903. She received an A.B. from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina (1924), and an M.A (1928). and Ph.D. (1930) in Sociology from the University of Chicago. She held honorary doctoral degrees from Women's College of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G), Converse College, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Springfield College. Winston taught social science in the Raleigh high schools and was editor of technical publications on public relief in the Division of research of the Works Progress Administration before becoming Chairman of the Department of Sociology and Economics at Meredith College (1940-1944). She was appointed North Carolina Commissioner of Public Welfare from 1944 to 1963, and U.S. Commissioner of Welfare, Department of Health Education and Welfare, from 1963 to 1967. Among her many career highlights, Winston served as President of the National Conference on Social Welfare (1965-1966), vice-president of the Child Welfare League of America (1966-1972), President of the Friends of the Library at North Carolina State University (1971-1973), State Legislative Chairman of the American Association of University Women ((1975-1979), and President of the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild (1976 to 1978). She was the American editor of Nation and Family (1941) and coauthor of Seven Lean Years (1939), The Plantation South (1940), and Foundations of American Population Policy (1940, as well as numerous professional articles. Winston's husband was Sanford R. Winston (North Carolina State University Special Collection, MC36), professor of sociology at North Carolina State University.

Ellen Black Winston was born in Bryson City, North Carolina, on August 15, 1903. She received an A.B. from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1924, an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1928, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago in 1930. She held honorary doctoral degrees from the Women's College of the University of North Carolina (UNC-G), Converse College, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and Springfield College.

Winston taught social science in the Raleigh high schools and was editor of technical publications on public relief in the Division of Research of the Works Progress Administration. She then became the Chairman of the Department of Sociology and Economics at Meredith College from 1940 - 1944.

In 1944 Winston became the North Carolina Commissioner of Public Welfare, a position she held until 1963. In that year she was appointed the U.S. Commissioner of Welfare in the Department of Health Education and Welfare. She resigned in 1967. Among her many career highlights, Winston served as President of the National Conference on Social Welfare (1965 - 1966), Vice-President of the Child Welfare League of America (1966 - 1972), President of the Friends of the Library at North Carolina State University (1971 - 1973), State Legislative Chairman of the American Association of University Women (1975 - 1979), and President of the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild (1976 - 1978).

She was the American editor of Nation and Family (1941) and coauthor of Seven Lean Years (1939), The Plantation South (1940), and Foundations of American Population Policy (1940), as well as numerous professional articles. Winston's husband was Sanford R. Winston, a professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. Mr. Winston died in 1969, and Mrs. Winston passed away in 1984.

Sociologist; government executive.

Ellen Winston was born in Bryson City, North Carolina, on August 15, 1903. She received her bachelor's degree from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1924. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a master's degree in 1928 and a Ph.D. in 1930. She taught social science and served as the Dean of Girls in the Raleigh City Schools. She also served as the head of the Department of Economics and Sociology at Meredith College from 1940-1944 and was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She also worked as a social economist and technical editor for the Works Progress Administration during the 1930's. In 1944, she was appointed Commissioner of Public Welfare for the State of North Carolina. She held this position until January 1963, when she was appointed as the first U.S. Commissioner of Welfare in the newly created Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She is credited with combining a number of fragmented public welfare programs at the time into one one cohesive unit as well as introducing progressive initiatives in federally aided programs of public assistances, medical assistance, and child health and welfare services. Her beliefs in public welfare were incorporated into important governmental legislation including the Medicaid program. She resigned from her position in 1967 and returned to Raleigh to devote her life full time in the area of social welfare. Dr. Winston has written and co-authored numerous publications including Seven Lean Years (1939), The Plantation South (1940), and Foundations of American Population Policy (1940) as well as many other professional articles. Her husband, Dr. Sanford Winston, was head of the Department of Sociology at North Carolina State University for many years until he passed way in 1969. She passed away on June 19, 1984 at her home in Raleigh, North Carolina.