SERIES I. BIOGRAPHY

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE

SERIES III. PUBLICATIONS

SERIES IV. MEMORABILIA BOOK

Dorothea de Schweinitz Papers, 1908-1980

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Laurie Winslow.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003


Collection Overview
	Creator:	De Schweinitz, Dorothea, 1891-
	Title:	Dorothea de Schweinitz Papers
	Dates:	1908-1980
	Abstract:	Dorothea de Schweinitz was one of the first female regional directors for the National Labor Relations Board, in St. Louis. De Schweinitz worked in employer-labor relations and as an industrial relations specialist for the War Production Board in Washington D.C. Materials include biographical material, correspondence to her parents during her year in Europe after her graduation from Smith College and correspondence between de Schweinitz and her father. Also included are her many publications, both on herself and her family, trade publications on labor and industry, and articles for the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, as well as her memorabilia book from her time at Smith.
	Extent:	2 boxes(1 linear ft.)
	Language:	English
	Identification:	RG 80. Class of 1912.

Biographical Note

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.

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Scope and Contents

The Dorothea de Schweinitz Papers consist of biographical materials, some correspondence to her parents during her year abroad in Europe following her graduation from Smith College (1913-1914), a single correspondence between de Schweinitz and her father during her tenure on the National Labor Relations Board (1939), her many publications, both on herself and her family, trade publications on labor and industry, and for the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, and her memorabilia book from her time at Smith.

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