Editing Edith Abbott (section)

{{short description|American economist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Edith Abbott
| image       = Edith Abbott.jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1876|9|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Grand Island, Nebraska]], US
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1957|7|28|1876|9|26|mf=y}}
| death_place = Grand Island, Nebraska, US
| occupation  = Economist, social worker, educator, author
| spouse      =
| parents     = [[Othman A. Abbott]] and Elizabeth M. Griffin
| children    = 
}}

'''Edith Abbott''' (September 26, 1876 – July 28, 1957) was an American economist, statistician, [[social worker]], educator, and author. Abbott was born in [[Grand Island, Nebraska]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170419193855/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3400300011.html "Abbott, Edith."] American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present. Gale. 2000.</ref> Abbott was a pioneer in the profession of [[social work]] with an educational background in [[economics]]. She was a leading activist in [[social reform]] with the ideals that [[humanitarianism]] needed to be embedded in education.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/people/abbott-edith/|title=Abbott, Edith - Social Welfare History Project|date=December 13, 2010|work=Social Welfare History Project|access-date=April 18, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> Abbott was also in charge of implementing social work studies to the graduate level. Though she was met with resistance on her work with social reform at the [[University of Chicago]], she ultimately was successful and was elected as the school's dean in 1924,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ssa.uchicago.edu/edith-abbott|title=Edith Abbott {{!}} University of Chicago - SSA|website=www.ssa.uchicago.edu|access-date=April 18, 2017}}</ref> making her one of the first female deans in the United States. Abbott was foremost an educator and saw her work as a combination of legal studies and humanitarian work which shows in her social security legislation. She is known as an economist who pursued implementing social work at the graduate level. Her younger sister was [[Grace Abbott]].

{{Blockquote
|text=Social work will never become a profession—except through the professional schools<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ssacentennial.uchicago.edu/features/features-abbott.shtml|title=Edith Abbott - SSA Centennial|website=ssacentennial.uchicago.edu|language=en|access-date=April 18, 2017}}</ref>
|author=Edith Abbott
}}

The Edith Abbott Memorial Library, in [[Grand Island, Nebraska]], is named after her.