Family Service Agency of San Francisco Records are open for research

Children's Agency Placing-Out Ledger, 1900-1908

If you've visited the San Francisco History Center's exhibit, "The History of Family Service Agency of San Francisco: The City’s Most Important Safety Net and Social Conscience" and want to learn more, come look at the archival records, which are now processed and open for research. The Family Service Agency Records of San Francisco, 1869-2004 (SFH 50) includes registries, minutes, ephemera, reports, building plans, and photographs. Researchers interested in the history of social work as it evolved out of charity and relief work in San Francisco, the development of the city's foster care system, and the career and accomplishments of Katharine Felton, the indomitable director of the agency from 1900-1940, will find good primary source material here. You can find a guide to the collection here at the Online Archive of California. To look at the collection itself, please visit the San Francisco History Center during our open hours, listed on our webpage.

Program ephemera, 1980s.

The exhibit remains on display through April 18th in the 6th floor gallery. 


Image credits: Materials pictured are taken from the Family Service Agency of San Francisco Records (SFH 50), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.