SHEPPARD-TOWNER ACT - PROGRESSIVISM IN 1920S

THE first venture of the federal government into social security legislation-the Sheppard-Towner maternity and infancy protection act of 1921-has been generally ignored in discussions about the persistence of progressivism in the 1920s.1 The maternity bill was a link in a chain of ideas and actions from Roosevelt to Roosevelt, which began with the White House Conference on Child Welfare Standards in 1909 and ended with the Social Security Act of 1935. In addition, the Sheppard-Towner Act was the first major dividend of the full enfranchisement of women. Women's organizations helped to force the enactment of the bill and later fought to preserve it from repeal. Although passed in the first year of the Harding administration, it was a product of the progressive movement. © 1969, Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.