De Schweinitz, Dorothea, 1891-

Dorothea De Schweinitz graduated from Smith College, 1912; received M.A., Columbia University, 1929; employment and vocational guidance work for YWCA, New York and Philadelphia public school system; worked for the Industrial Research Department, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, then the Pennsylvania State Employment Service; researcher for U.S. Employment Service U.S. Employment Service, Washington; worked for the National Labor Relations Board, St. Louis; War Production Board; and Wage Stabilization Board, Washington, DC, 1920s-40s. Published several books on labor management, including study of management in England, Sweden, and Germany. Active in the historic preservation of Georgetown, D.C. De Schweinitz died Nov. 15, 1980.

From the description of Dorothea De Schweinitz papers, 1908-1980. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 52510142

Dorothea de Schweinitz and Louise de Schweinitz Darrow at the dedication of the Zinzendorf bust in Bethlehem, PA, May 16, 1973

Dorothea de Schweinitz (1891-1980) was born in Nazareth, PA. She was the third child of Paul and Mary de Schweinitz. She attended the Moravian Parochial School and graduated from Smith College in 1912. Later she studied at the Universities of Wisconsin and Chicago and obtained her M.A. at Columbia University in 1929. She spent twenty years in employment and vocational guidance work in the YWCA in New York, in developing a Junior Employment Service in the public schools of Philadelphia, in the Industrial Research Department of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and in assisting in the development of a demonstration office in Philadelphia of the Pennsylvania State Employment Service and in research in the U.S. Employment Service in Washington. During this period she wrote two books: How Workers Find Jobs, A Study of 4,000 Hosiert Workers in Philadelphia and Occupations in Retail Stores . She was president of the Philadelphia Vocational Guidance Association in 1924-25 and of the National Vocational Guidance Association in 1925-26. The next twenty years she spent in employer-labor relations as regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in St. Louis, chief of the Committee Standards Branch, War Production Board (an activity concerned with labor-management cooperation through joint production committees) with headquarters in Washington, and as an industrial relations specialist in the Wage Stabilization Board. After World War II she obtained a grant from the Wertheim Committee of Harvard University and in 1949 her book on the war period, Labor and Management in a Common Enterprise, was published by the Harvard University Press. In 1966 her book Labor-Management Consultation in the Factory, the Experience of England, Sweden and Germany, was published. This was the result of a year's independent research in the countries indicated. After retirement de Schweinitz gave her attention to the problems of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. She was instrumental in obtaining the 1950 "Old Georgetown" Act in which the U.S. Congress established Georgetown as a Historic District under the protection of the Commission of Fine Arts. She was also the moving spirit in forming Historic Georgetown, Inc., which rescued from demolition the Thomas Sim Lee buildings at 30th and M Streets. On 27 Feb 1974 de Schweinitz received a Smith College Medal.

Dr. Louise de Schweinitz Darrow was born in Nazareth, PA, in 1898. A 1918 graduate of Smith College, she studied at Columbia University and received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1924. She practiced medicine at Yale University and the community Health Well Baby Clinics in New Haven CT. and later was the examining physician and patient coordinator in the children's rehabilitation unit of University of Kansas Medical Center. She was active in community affairs. She died at the age of 99, April 3, 1997.

From the guide to the Dorothea De Schweinitz and Louise De Schweinitz (Darrow) Papers MS 398., 1912-1997, 1970-1980, (Sophia Smith Collection)

Dorothea de Schweinitz was born on September 5, 1891 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the third child of Bishop Paul de Schweinitz and Mary Catherine Daniel. De Schweinitz attended the Moravian Parochial School and graduated from Smith College in 1912. Descendant of six generations of ministers, she became a volunteer social worker in Bethlehem after graduation. During her career in vocational and employment guidance work, she also pursued post-graduate studies at the Universities of Wisconsin and Chicago and received her MA in Economics from Columbia University in 1929.

It was in New York City that de Schweinitz became interested in the difficulties of low-skilled laborers through her work as placement secretary at the Central Branch of the Y.W.C.A. de Schweinitz spent twenty years in vocational and employment guidance work, developing a Junior Employment Service in the public schools in Philadelphia and in service for the Pennsylvania State Employment Service, as well as working in the research departments of the Wharton School (Penn.) and the U.S. Employment Service in Washington D.C. In 1937, de Schweinitz was appointed as one of the first of three female regional directors for the National Labor Relations Board, in St. Louis. De Schweinitz spent the next twenty years in employer-labor relations and as an industrial relations specialist for the War Production Board in Washington D.C. beginning in 1942.

After her long and successful career, de Schweinitz gave her time in retirement to another pioneer field, historical preservation, in volunteer work in establishing Georgetown as an historic district. She was also very active in the Washington branch of the Smith College Club. De Schweinitz was awarded a Smith College Medal in 1974.

De Schweinitz received a number of grants to support her studies and publications on employment and labor relations, including one from the Wertheim Committee of Harvard University in 1948.

Until her death at the age of 89 on November 15, 1980, de Schweinitz enjoyed writing and publishing small pieces about her experiences and enjoyed visiting friends in the U.S. and abroad. Her informal writings are uniformly cheerful and articulate and demonstrate, as she would say herself, her diffidence and sociability and sense of responsibility to the community.

From the guide to the Dorothea de Schweinitz Papers RG 80. Class of 1912., 1908-1980, (Smith College Archives)

Labor researcher; Birth control advocate; Physician.

Dorothea de Schweinitz (1891-1980), labor researcher; and sister, Louise de Schweinitz Darrow (1898-1997), physician and birth control advocate. Dorothea graduated from Smith College, 1912; received M.A., Columbia University, 1929; employment and vocational guidance work for YWCA, New York and Philadelphia public school system; worked for the Industrial Research Department, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, then the Pennsylvania State Employment Service; researcher for U.S. Employment Service U.S. Employment Service, Washington; worked for the National Labor Relations Board, St. Louis; War Production Board; and Wage Stabilization Board, Washington, DC, 1920s-40s. Published several books on labor management, including study of management in England, Sweden, and Germany. Active in the historic preservation of Georgetown, D.C. Louise graduated from Smith College, 1918; studied at Columbia University; M.D., Johns Hopkins Medical School, 1924; practiced medicine at Yale University and community health at Well Baby Clinics in New Haven, Connecticut; and children's rehabilitation unit, University of Kansas Medical Center.

From the description of Dorothea De Schweinitz and Louise De Schweinitz (Darrow) papers, 1912-1997 (bulk 1970-1980). (Smith College). WorldCat record id: 48259582