National Civic Federation
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an organization formed in 1902 by prominent representatives of capital, labor, and the general public. Its purpose is to organize the best intellectual forces of the Nation in an educational movement, for the purpose of seeking a solution of some of the great problems relating to social and industrial progress. The work of the Federation is carried on through various agencies or departments, the most important of which are the Industrial Conciliation Department, dealing with strikes and other labor troubles; the Industrial Economics Department; the Welfare Department; the Women's Department; the Department of Compensation for Industrial Accidents and their Prevention; the Social Insurance Department; the Department of Regulation of Combinations and Trusts; the Department of Regulation of Interstate and Municipal Utilities; and the Pure Food and Drugs Department. During the World War War the Federation carried on important work through its various agencies and, following the war, in 1919 and 1920, it was especially active in spreading propaganda against Bolshevism. In 1919 a commission was sent to France and Italy for the purpose of studying industrial conditions in those countries. The Federation also took an active part in behalf of the League of Vol. VI-Cyc-Y Nations. V. Everit Macy retired as president of the Federation in 1919, and was succeeded by Judge Alton B. Parker. The official organ of the National Civic Federation is the "National Civic Federation Review." NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS, a national organization founded in 1874 to discuss problems of the administration of charity, and to promote progressive methods of dealing with dependents, defectives, and delinquents. An annual conference is held at which representatives of philanthropic private and State institutions come together to consider reform legislation, and other problems of their work. The annual proceedings of the conference show the great advance which has been made in the United States in relief and correctional work. In recent years more attention has been paid to preventive and educational work, such as scholarships, vocational training, and minimum wage, social insurance, and health legislation.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The Federation Collier's described in 1921 — with Judge Alton B. Parker presiding over departments on conciliation, welfare and "propaganda against Bolshevism" — no longer exists. Founded in 1900 (Collier's dates it 1902) by Ralph Easley with Mark Hanna as first president and Samuel Gompers as a vice-president, it lost its purpose once the state took over the work: nearly every state adopted the workmen's compensation laws it had pushed, and the Wagner Act of 1935 gave labor disputes to the National Labor Relations Board rather than to private conciliators. In its later years the group was known chiefly for anti-radical campaigning, and after Easley's death in 1939 it dwindled away by about 1950. The National Conference of Charities and Corrections named alongside it survived by renaming itself, becoming the National Conference of Social Work in 1917 and later the National Conference on Social Welfare.
Written for this edition, 2026.