Zilpha Drew Smith

Zilpha Drew Smith (born Jan. 25, 1851/52, Pembroke, Mass., U.S.—died Oct. 12, 1926, Boston, Mass.) was an American social worker under whose guidance in the late 19th century Boston’s charity network was skillfully organized and efficiently run.

Smith grew up in East Boston (now part of Boston). She graduated from the Girls’ High and Normal School of Boston in 1868. After working as a telegrapher for a time, she took on the demanding job of revising the index of the Suffolk county probate court. In 1879 she became registrar of the newly organized Associated Charities of Boston, a consolidation of the city’s principal social welfare agencies. It was her task to implement and supervise the confidential investigation and registration of all charity cases, to ensure the cooperation of agencies in handling the cases, and to organize a system of “friendly visiting” to attack the causes of poverty, believed to lie in the family.

Under Smith’s administration the Associated Charities processed cases with an efficiency unmatched by similar groups. Responsibilities were allotted by district, and both paid and unpaid agents were used. Smith established training classes for district administrators and later for agents and volunteer friendly visitors. She also set a precedent in organizing discussion groups for agents. Representatives of charity organizations elsewhere (such as Mary Richmond of Baltimore, Maryland) visited Boston frequently to study Smith’s methods. From 1886 she held the title of general secretary, and she remained in that post until 1903, when she was succeeded by Alice Louise Lothrop.

From 1904 to 1918 Smith was associate director of the new Boston School for Social Workers. She also lectured occasionally at the New York School of Philanthropy and elsewhere, and she published several articles on organized charity work and the evolving technique of casework.