Grace Abbott (1878-1939), an architect of social work and an activist in the immigrant rights movement, was the highest ranking woman in government from 1921 to 1934 as chief of the Department of Labor’s Children’s Bureau. She led the fight to end child labor and maternal and infant childbirth death, and also helped draft America’s Social Security Act.

With our support, UNLADYLIKE2020 brings her vision and story of social good back to life through rare archival imagery, captivating original artwork, and animation.

Interviewees: scholar John Sorensen, Director of the Abbott Sisters Project and editor of A Sister’s Memories: The Life and Work of Grace Abbott from the Writings of Her Sister, Edith Abbott, and Cristina Jiménez, immigrant rights activist, co-founder and executive director of United We Dream.

Free digital classroom resources about Grace Abbott are available in the Unladylike2020 collection on PBS LearningMedia.

Original artwork in featured image by Amelie Chabannes.

Broadcast on American Masters.