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The video captures 100 Years of leadership in protecting children and strengthening families.
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Children’s Bureau poster commemorating Children's Year, circa 1918

The Story of the Children’s Bureau: Then and Now.  Photo Credit: Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-9867
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Age 10 Orley Shrouce who worked in a textile mill in Gastonia, NC, circa 1908

The first Children’s Bureau Express Centennial Series explores early 20th century political climate and social movements.  Photo credit: Library of Congress, LC-DIG-nclc-01370
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Visit the new Children's Bureau website and explore its features and the latest in news and program highlights.
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April 9, 2012, marked the 100th anniversary of the Children’s Bureau. Join us as we celebrate the Children’s Bureau’s history of addressing critical issues affecting children and families and set the stage for the next century.

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The Story of the Children's Bureau

The Story of the Children's Bureau Snapshot

Explore an engaging “then” and “now” look at the Children’s Bureau’s history of collaboration, research, assistance to States and Tribes, public awareness campaigns, and more.

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Special Journal Issue Celebrates Children’s Bureau Centennial
Journal of Public Child Welfare, Sep 2012
In commemoration of the Children’s Bureau’s centennial, the Journal of Public Child Welfare recently published a double special issue titled “One Hundred Years of the U.S. Children’s Bureau Professionalizing and Improving Child Welfare.”
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Children's Bureau Express

Centennial Series

Read about highlights from each decade of the Children's Bureau's first 100 years:

View previous articles in the 2nd Centennial series

View the 1st Centennial series

Centennial Moments

The Children’s Bureau encouraged sun baths and cod liver oil for infants—a simple and low-cost solution to prevent rickets, a debilitating early childhood disease.

Babies sunbathing on garden lawn, circa February 1946.

The Bureau developed a reputation as an authority on child care, receiving as many as 400,000 letters per year. Mothers asked questions on diet, illnesses, how to keep a baby entertained, and more.

Raising a Baby the Government Way: Mothers' Letters to the Children's Bureau

In 1942, to promote the use of U.S. child welfare literature in other countries, the Bureau published a glossary of child welfare terms in Spanish, Portuguese, and French with English translations.

Glossary of Certain Child-Welfare Terms in Spanish, Portuguese, French & English

The Children’s Bureau proclaimed “Children’s Year” beginning April 1918 and mobilized 11 million volunteers across the nation to reduce infant deaths by educating parents.

Children’s Bureau poster commemorating Children’s Year, circa 1918.

The 1931 Children’s Charter supported the protection of 19 fundamental rights of children, including: For every child understanding and the guarding of his personality as his most precious right.

Cover of The Children’s Charter.

Since November 1995, National Adoption Month has focused on raising awareness about the adoption of children and youth in foster care.

President Clinton puts his arm around adopted child, Charday Mays

Following World War II, the Children’s Bureau sponsored back-to-school drives for youth who had left school to work on war-related efforts.

Poster promoting reading and library use; an Ill. Work Projects Adm. art project

Responding to the large numbers of women entering the workforce during WWII, the Children’s Bureau developed standards for day care for children of working mothers and a maternity policy for industry.

Women welders on the way to their job at the Todd Erie Basin dry dock, circa '43

“Justice for all children is the great ideal in democracy.” —Grace Abbott, 2nd Children’s Bureau Chief, c. 1930.

Grace Abbott, date unknown.

After WWII, the Children’s Bureau oversaw the placement of thousands of European children evacuees sent to the United States. The Bureau provided standards of care and helped State and local agencies place the children.

Cover of Care of Children Coming to the U.S. for Safety Under Atty. Gen's Order

By 1930, three popular Children’s Bureau publications—Prenatal Care, Infant Care, and Child Care—had a combined circulation of more than 10 million.

Cover of Infant Care, stamped by Congressman William Carss of Minnesota, 1926.
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Watch the Video (10:53 minutes)
A new video captures 100 years of leadership in protecting children and strengthening families. Also available en Español.

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