Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Florence Hollis and Rosemary Ross Reynolds Papers, 1863-1987

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Rachel Weiner.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2003

Biographical Note

Florence May Hollis was born on January 11, 1907, to Bertha Hoerig Hollis and Louis Herbert Hollis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduation from the Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she was chosen as class valedictorian, Hollis entered Wellesley College where she majored in sociology and psychology. During her Junior Month Program, which included exposure to both social work theory and field work, Hollis began her commitment to social service work. After completing her B.A. in 1928, she began an apprenticeship at the Family Society of Philadelphia and took courses at the Pennsylvania School of Social Work. A fellowship awarded her by the Family Society took her to Smith College School for Social Work, where she studied casework under Bertha Reynolds. There Hollis earned a Master of Social Science degree in 1931. Her thesis, "Emotional Factors in the Attitudes of Clients Toward Relief: Seven Case Studies," was published later that year.

In September 1931, Hollis took a post as district superintendent at the Family Society of Philadelphia. She remained there until 1933, when she assumed the position of district secretary at the Institute of Family Service (Associated Charities) in Cleveland, where she was responsible for administration and supervision of case workers. During her tenure in Cleveland, she received an invitation to assume Bertha Reynold's position as associate director of the Smith School for Social Work. She declined, firm in her commitment to the Cleveland agency and to long-term casework. She was also a member of the Cleveland 'think group,' which included Florence Day and Rosemary Reynolds as members. During this period Hollis and Reynolds strengthened a friendship and professional association which was to become central to them both.

Hollis's teaching career began in 1934 when she taught one course in casework at Western Reserve University, while still maintaining her position as district secretary in Cleveland. Gradually she assumed a heavier course load at Western Reserve and by 1937 was appointed fulltime assistant professor. The following year she began a study of social casework. Her findings were published in 1939, in Social Casework in Practice: Six Case Studies. In 1940, professing a deepening interest in teaching casework and in research, Hollis began taking courses through the Department of Social Economy and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College, where she received a fellowship from the American Association of University Women to study the social and psychological factors contributing to marital difficulties. While working on her doctorate, she taught at the New York School of Social Work, (later Columbia University School of Social Work), and also served as Director of Publications for the Family Service Association of America, editing the Journal of Social Case Work (previously The Family.) Hollis's doctoral dissertation, completed in 1947, was published in 1949 under the title Women in Marital Conflict. The same year that Hollis completed her dissertation she had major surgery, undergoing a left radical mastectomy after being diagnosed for cancer.

For much of the next twenty years, Hollis continued to teach at Columbia and to maintain a small clinical practice at the Community Service Society of New York. From 1955 to 1962, she taught summers at the Smith College School for Social Work. In 1964, Hollis's widely acclaimed book Casework: A Psychosocial Therapy was published. The first edition was translated into several languages. Subsequent revised editions, published in 1972, 1981, and 1990, continued to attract a wide audience.

As a full professor at the New York School, Hollis also remained active in research. Beginning in the late 1940s she started to develop ideas for a classification system used to describe the techniques used by caseworkers in their direct work with clients, and during a 1958 sabbatical the work began to take on a definite shape. The classification system or "typology" she developed was based on a content analysis of casework records both written and taped. The study, which extended into the 1960s, received funding through a National Institute of Mental Health grant. Hollis's classification system generated some interest in the academic community and other clinicians have expanded on the work.

Hollis retired in 1972 and in 1977, with her companion and colleague, Rosemary Reynolds, moved to Crosslands, a retirement community in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. For more than forty years the friends had shared both professional interests and a common living arrangement. Most likely, they had first met during the period between 1928 to 1930, when both were taking coursework at the Pennsylvania School of Social Work. When Reynolds died on September 18, 1980, Hollis received many condolences on her loss.

Rosemary Ross Reynolds, the daughter of Mary and Chauncey P. Reynolds was born in Chicago on April 10, 1906. Her father was editor of a farm paper, and after his death, Mary Reynolds became the household editor of five weeklies and then the Farm Journal, a national farm paper. Reynolds received her A.B. from Mount Holyoke College in 1928. The recipient of the Patten Memorial Scholarship, Reynolds went to London after graduation to study the social conditions there. She also received a fellowship for two years of study at the Pennsylvania School of Social Work, where she received her M.S.W. in 1935. Before completing her graduate work she took a position as caseworker with the Family Society of Philadelphia, where she worked from 1930 through 1933. Following this she assumed the position of district secretary at the Cuyahoga County Relief Administration in Cleveland. She also served as a case consultant and case supervisor at the agency. In addition, Reynolds began teaching at Western Reserve University, School of Applied Social Sciences, where, from 1934 to 1936, she served as an instructor and field advisor.

In 1937, Reynolds left the Cleveland agency to take a post as regional consultant with the Family Service Association of America, where she oversaw the services in five mid-western states. When she left the agency in 1940, to continue her schooling, she had a good deal of practical experience behind her as well as eight published articles. Reynolds completed two years of full-time post-graduate study at Bryn Mawr College Department of Social Economy and Social Research, before taking a permanent post at the Community Service Society of New York. In 1951, she became a district director, first in the Chelsea-Lowell area and then in the west side of Manhattan. In 1962, she assumed the directorship of the Department of Central Services, providing services for persons age sixty or older. Upon her retirement in 1971, Reynolds had been with the Community Service Organization for twenty-nine years.

Hollis had been diagnosed with lymphoma the year prior to Reynold's death in 1980, but continued work on the third edition of Social Casework, co-authored by Mary E. Woods. Hollis entrusted Woods with the rights to the book, which enjoyed a fourth edition, three year's after Hollis's death. Florence Hollis died at Crosslands on July 2, 1987.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers include biographical material, correspondence, newspaper clippings, awards and certificates, memorabilia, lecture notes, student papers, case records, writings and speeches, published articles, papers by colleagues, code data used in research, tape cassette recordings, magnetic recordings (reel to reel), one videotape, agency records, and photographs. The bulk of the papers are Florence Hollis's, but the collection also includes the papers of Rosemary Reynolds. A portion of the teaching and case material, in addition to the more personal papers, were used jointly by both women and the greater portion of these documents are located throughout the Hollis collection. The bulk of the material dates from the 1930s through the mid 1980s.

The papers document the personal and professional activities of Florence Hollis and Rosemary Reynolds. They also provide information about broad changes in the social work profession. These changes are documented through correspondence, agency records, and speeches and writings, in which Hollis and her colleagues describe some of the new trends in the field, particularly from the 1970s onwards. In addition, the case records provide valuable information about the changing interpretations and treatment approaches of clinicians working with clients who are confronting a range of issues, from incest to concerns about racial identity.

Important correspondents in the collection include Charlotte Towle, Lucille Austin, Florence Day, Eileen Younghusband, Anni Hofer, Ruth Zobrist, Inga Gottfarb, and Frank March. There is also some correspondence from Gordon Hamilton and scant correspondence from, and other material related to, Bertha Reynolds and Betsey Libbey.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into ten series:

• I. Biographical
• II. Correspondence
• III. Employment and Professional Work
• IV. Teaching
• V. Case Records
• VI. Writing and Speeches
• VII. Typology Research
• VIII. Notes on Selected Documents
• IX. Photographs
• X. Rosemary Reynolds Papers
• Oversize Materials

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Series I. BIOGRAPHICAL (1863-1986) 13 in.

This series includes three chronologically arranged sections composed of material on Hollis's family, education, and retirement. There is also material related to Stacia Super's doctoral dissertation, which describes Hollis's intellectual development from 1927-1940. This series also contains two oral history interviews, one conducted by Ann Hartman with both Hollis and Reynolds in 1970, and a series done by Vida Grayson with Hollis in 1985.

The family papers and personal material include some of the personal effects of Hollis's parents, Bertha Hoering Hollis and Louis H. Hollis, and those of her grandfather, William Hollis. Materials documenting Hollis's leisure activities and political interests are also part of the section.

Hollis's educational material constitutes a large part of the series and consists of speeches, theses, correspondence papers, exams, dissertation and course notes. The earliest document is Hollis's 1924 valedictory address given at the Philadelphia High School for Girls and the series also includes her 1928 Wellesley thesis and her 1947 Bryn Mawr dissertation. Hollis's Smith College School for Social Work thesis "Emotional Factors in the Attitudes of Clients Toward Relief: Seven Case Studies," is stored in the Neilson Library.

The bulk of the material related to Hollis's retirement decisions and activities was generated at Crosslands, a retirement community located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, where Hollis moved with Rosemary Reynolds in 1977. The correspondence, committee records, questionnaires, newsclippings, photographs, newsletters, music and other material document Hollis's continued activity in retirement, serving on a variety of committees, gardening, painting, and playing the dulcimer.

Series II. CORRESPONDENCE (1909-1986) 1 ft., 8 in.

This series is divided into personal and general correspondence and is arranged chronologically except for frequent correspondents' letters have been removed and filed in separate folders. Additional correspondence is located in other series. For example, most of the correspondence from Gordon Hamilton can be found in Series III., Employment and Professional Activities, in the folder containing material from the Family Society of Rochester.

Hollis's personal correspondence spans the years 1946 to 1986. A number of the letters are addressed jointly to Hollis and Rosemary Reynolds. Some of the most extensive correspondence is between Hollis and her cousin, Frank March, with whom she played chess by mail. Hollis also maintained a regular exchange with a number of social work professionals from abroad. Most noted among them is Dame Eileen Younghusband, an English colleague and friend. Anni Hofer, a Swiss fellow who studied under Hollis in 1950 at the New York School of Social Work wrote to Hollis and Reynolds regularly in conjunction with Ruth Zobrist, Hofer's companion. Inga Gottfarb, a Swedish colleague, was also a frequent correspondent.

The general correspondence consists chiefly of letters between Hollis and her professional colleaques dating from 1933 to 1986. The letters are arranged chronologically. A few of the correspondents have been accorded separate folders. These include Mary E. Woods, who collaborated with Hollis on the third edition of Casework: A Psychosocial Therapy, Stacia Super, and Judith Mishne, a Columbia professor. Because correspondence from the latter contains some sensitive material, this folder will be closed to use until seventy-five years from its date of creation.

Series III. EMPLOYMENT AND PROFESSIONAL WORK (1932-c.1986) 7 in.

The material in this series is arranged chronologically within institution or professional organization for which Hollis was working or volunteering and is mainly comprised of documents from the Family Service Association of America and the Council on Social Work Education. Both Hollis and Reynolds were active in the Family Service Association (formerly the Family Welfare Association) based in New York. This material documents not only Hollis's involvement in committee work, but also her work from 1942 to 1947 as editor of The Family, a social work journal published by the association. [See Series VI for copies of the journals that she edited]

Hollis was an active member of the Council of Social Work Education (formerly the American Association of Schools of Social Work) for over thirty years. As early as 1949 she served as chairperson at annual meetings and was active on the advisory committee on advanced education for many years, and this material reflects that work.

Series IV. TEACHING (1917-ca. 1986) 5 ft., 5 in.

The teaching series, arranged in four sections--the three institutions where Hollis taught and miscellaneous--follows a chronological arrangement according to school and/or course number except when otherwise indicated. Student papers gathered from various instititions, will not be available to researchers until seventy-five years from date of creation.

Hollis's first teaching position was at the School of Applied Social Sciences, Western Reserve University, where she taught from 1934 to 1940. The Western Reserve holdings include bibliographies, teaching notes and related materials, case notes, student cases and papers, and miscellaneous materials.

In the spring of 1943, Hollis began teaching part time at the New York School of Social Work (renamed Columbia University School of Social Work in 1962), and was appointed a full-time associate professor in 1947. She remained there until her retirement in 1972. These holdings include bibliographies and course assignments, lecture notes and related materials, cases records and notes and student cases and papers.

Beginning in the summer of 1955, Hollis led graduate seminars on casework in marital counseling and educational methods in teaching casework at the Smith College School for Social Work. She continued to teach one or both courses most summers through 1962. Notes and case material used for the seminars are arranged chronologically within each course.

The miscellaneous holdings are quite extensive and include assorted case notes, bibliographies, lecture notes papers, reading lists, and additional material. Case notes, from Philadelphia and Cleveland, span the years from approximately 1928 to 1941 and include notes Hollis took as a student at the Pennsylvania School for Social Work. [See also Series I] The bibliographies are drawn from from various sources. Additional teaching materials, used at a variety of institutions, include material on diagnostic and functional issues, marital counseling notes used at the New York School, Smith and in Michigan, supervision materials, and notes for various conferences and seminars. In addition, the series includes papers and articles written by colleagues, some with accompanying correspondence. Finally Hollis's "reading notes," consists of names of books and articles that Hollis had read or intended to read.

Series V. CASE RECORDS (1926-1971) 5 ft., 10 in.

This series consists mainly of client records, and the records are arranged alphabetically by name or alias, or by category of case. Folder titles include the school and course in which the case was used or the agency where generated, when available. Some of the folder titles bear only the social service agency's intitials, rather than the full name of the institution, as this was all the information available. Most likely the CCRA stands for the Cuyahoga County Relief Administration in Cleveland, Ohio, and the AC stands for the Associated Charities.

In addition to the client record, some of the folders include related notes, bibliographies, and correspondence. Hollis gathered these files from various agencies for teaching purposes. Some of the cases were used for other purposes and appear in her publications. Most of the cases were carried by social work professionals or students; few are Hollis's own. In the margins of some records Hollis has penciled in a series of letters that are part of a coding system that she developed to classify the techniques used by social workers in their work with clients. [See Series VII, Typology Research]

By examining the case records in this series, it is possible to determine the caseworkers' approach to a range of issues raised in the sessions. For example, early records suggest that child sexual abuse was treated as the client's fantasy.

Series VI. WRITING AND SPEECHES (ca. 1930-1986) 3 ft., 7 in.

This series is aranged into two sections--speeches and papers, and publications. The speeches and papers are arranged chronologically. The publications are arranged chronologically within categories of publication.

The first section dates from 1930 to 1986 and consists of speeches, papers and related material. It begins with a collection of speech notes that Hollis annotated for the Sophia Smith Collection. The taped and written comments concerning these speeches are housed in Series VIII. The section also includes related correspondence and commentary.

The section on publications includes material edited and written by Hollis as well as responses to her work. It begins with select issues of The Journal of Social Casework (formerly The Family), for which Hollis served as editor from 1942 to 1947, and is followed by a collection of her published articles spanning the period from 1931 to 1983. Material related to Social Case Work in Practice: Six Case Studies (1939), Women in Marital Conflict (1949) and Casework: A Psychosocial Therapy (1964, 1972, 1981) complete the series. Multiple drafts of the third edition of Casework: A Psychosocial Therapy, co-authored by Mary E. Woods, constitutes the largest part of the publications section.

Series VII. TYPOLOGY RESEARCH (194[?]-1986) 4 ft., 3 in.

This series is arranged in five sections: notes and findings; applications and reports for the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) grant; case material used for research, including taped sessions; speeches and papers; articles and studies by students and associates using the typology. Within sections and subsections the material is arranged chronologically, except for the case records and tapes, which are arranged according to identification number.

The series consists of material relating to development and implementation of Hollis's typology of casework treatment, a system she devised to classify the techniques used by workers in their direct work with clients.

The first section, notes and findings, documents how Hollis began thinking about a classification system, or typology, in the late forties. It wasn't until a 1958 sabbatical that the work began to take a more definitive shape, and funding obtained through a NIMH grant helped to further her research, documented in the applications and reports in the second section. Although the terms 'classification system' and 'typology' refer to the same process, the folders titles reflect Hollis's usage. In the early stages of the work Hollis tended to rely on the term 'classification system', and as she refined her ideas and method, she adopted the term typology with increasing frequency. In addition, 'classification system' sometimes refers to the work of other clinicians and researchers, in contrast to 'typology,' which generally relates only to the system developed by Hollis. [See Series IV. Teaching, for lecture material related to the classification system]

To develop and test the typology, Hollis gathered data from counseling sessions recorded in greater than usual detail, and this material is found in the third section. At least nine records with corresponding code sheets from the early 1960s are housed in the series. In addition, there are tape recordings with corresponding interview data and diagnostic records of marital counseling sessions from the mid 1960s, gathered from family service agencies in St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Hollis's papers and speeches about the typology are found in the fourth section. Both social work students and experienced clinicians adopted it for use. Hollis served as an advisor or consultant to several students who explored the typology in their major works. These include Edward Mullen, Francis Turner, and F. Louise Boatman, and Mitzi Montgomery, whose doctoral theses and related papers and publications are housed in the fifth section. The typology also generated interest in more distant points in the United States and abroad, and the queries and findings of this group are also included here.

Series VIII. NOTES ON SELECTED DOCUMENTS (ca. 1930-1986) 4 in.

The series is arranged in the order in which Hollis assembled it, by broad categories.

This series, consisting of eighteen folders, five cassette tapes and an accompanying key, was created by Florence Hollis in 1985 and 1986 to help elucidate some of the early material in her papers. Hollis selected certain documents from the collection, had them copied and added explanatory notes in writing and on tape to make the material more accessible to researchers. Quite often the tapes record Hollis reading the less legible segments of the document aloud, although some of the cassettes do include background information about how and where the material was used. Most of the material from the tapes has been transcribed by the Sophia Smith Collection and housed in the appropriate folder.

Folders 1-4 contain copies of teaching notes from the 1930s with partial transcriptions and/or commentary. Folders 5-16 contain copies of notes for various speeches from 1930 to 1940 with accompanying transcription and/or commentary. Folder 17 contains copies of case notes and folder 18 provides a copy of the notes on Helen Perlman's book with transcription in the margins. The five tapes include material related to all 18 folders. The original documents have been integrated into appropriate series in the collection.

Series IX. PHOTOGRAPHS (1901-1987) 10 in.

This series is divided into the photograph collections of Florence Hollis and Rosemary Reynolds. The series contains snapshots and more formal portraits of family members, friends and colleagues. Photographs of Betsey Libbey, Dame Eileen Younghusband and other notable social workers are included in the Forence Hollis section.

Series X. ROSEMARY REYNOLDS PAPERS (1901-1986) 1 ft., 6 in.

This series is arranged in five sections and follows a chronological order within each area. The first section contains biographical material about Reynolds and her family. The second section, correspondence, consists of a few letters generated between 1922 and 1984. The education section holds papers and notes from the various educational institutions Reynolds attended. Her Master of Social Work thesis, "Casework for First Years," is housed here. The fourth section, "Publications, Papers, and Speeches, begins with issues of The Spokesman written by Reynolds and includes other papers and publication from the early 1930s through 1959. The series concludes with materials related to Reynolds' professional activities. These include agency records, studies and reports, notes on conferences and seminars, and material on supervision. The agency records were chiefly generated at the Community Service Society of New York, where Reynolds was employed for twenty-nine years.

Series I. BIOGRAPHICAL

Series II. CORRESPONDENCE

Series III. EMPLOYMENT AND PROFESSIONAL WORK

Series IV. TEACHING

Series V. CASE RECORDS

Series VI. WRITING AND SPEECHES