Worthington, Gladys Guinaw, d. 1982-

Biographical Information

Gladys Worthington (c. 1911-1982), born Gladys Guinaw, in her work as a social planning consultant played a leading role in housing for senior citizens, particularly in Alameda County where she helped to establish Satellite Senior Homes, Inc. She attended San Francisco's Girls' High School (1929), later receiving her Bachelor of Arts (1933) and a General Secondary Teaching Certificate (1934) from the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated from the New York School of Social Work in 1940.

During World War II she was active with the San Francisco Chapter of the American Red Cross, where she served as Director of Disaster Service. She was also active in Europe, working for the American National Red Cross as a Special Representative for Civilian War Relief in Western Europe. During this time she volunteered with the Comite Americaine de Secours aux Civiles (Vire, Calvados, France) on the Ann Morgan Committee. She was a recipient of the Medaille d'Honneur from the Croix Rouge Francaise. She wrote an unpublished autobiographical account of her war relief efforts in France titled "Not a Donut Dolly" (circa 1977-1978). After the war, she continued her education, receiving a Master of Arts in Social Science from the University of Liverpool in England in 1956.

Returning to the San Francisco Bay area, she began work first as the Director of the Volunteer Bureau of Alameda County, and then as a social planning consultant for many organizations, including the Council of Social Planning, Alameda County and the Bay Area Social Planning Council. She drafted reports for and/or consulted with organizations such as the City of Oakland, Alameda County, the Salvation Army, United Bay Area Crusade, United Way of the Bay Area, Roman Catholic Dioceses, and many skilled nursing facilities or other senior housing developments such as Satellite Senior Homes, Inc. Later in life she worked as an instructor of Social Gerontology at Peralta College for Non-Traditional Study and as an Associate with Norris Gaddis Associates, Architects and Planners. She was awarded the Daniel Koshland, Jr. Award in 1968 for her contributions to social work in the San Francisco Bay Area.

From the guide to the Gladys Worthington papers, 1895-1982, 1960-1980, (The Bancroft Library.)