Charlotte E. Carr Explained

Charlotte E. Carr
Birth Date:May 3, 1890
Birth Place:Dayton, Ohio
Death Date:July 12, 1956
Death Place:New York City
Occupation:Labor activist, state official
Known For:Pennsylvania's Secretary of Labor and Industry, 1933–1934; Head resident at Hull House, 1937–1943

Charlotte Elizabeth Carr (May 3, 1890 – July 12, 1956) was an American labor activist and state official. She was appointed Pennsylvania's Secretary of Labor and Industry in 1933. She was the head resident at Chicago's Hull House from 1937 to 1942.

Early life and education

Charlotte Elizabeth Carr was born in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of businessman Joseph Henry Carr and Edith Carver Carr. She attended the Madeira School in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Vassar College in 1915. She pursued further studies at Columbia University.[1] [2] [3]

Career

After college, Carr worked in New York City in several jobs, including as a charities aid investigator for the state, and as a probation officer.[4] [5] She worked in personnel at American Lithographic and at Knox Hat Company during and after World War I, and at Stark Mills in New Hampshire for a time. She worked for the American Association of Social Workers in New York. In 1923, she became assistant director of the Bureau of Women in Industry, part of the New York State Department of Labor under Frances Perkins. In 1925, she took a similar position with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.[6] Following several other promotions within the state bureaucracy, Carr became Pennsylvania's first female Secretary of Labor and Industry in 1933, appointed by Governor Gifford Pinchot.[7] [8] [9] [10]

In 1934, she returned to New York City, where she was a governor's advisor on relief programs. In 1935, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appointed Carr head of the city's Emergency Relief Bureau. In 1937, Carr moved to Chicago,[11] when she was chosen by the Hull House board as the new head resident, replacing Adena Miller Rich.[12] [13] Carr's tenure included welcoming the first black residents to Hull House. She was fired in 1942, after repeated clashes with the board of trustees over her political activities and the direction of the program.[14]

After Hull House, Carr held leadership positions with the War Manpower Commission and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. From 1944 to 1952, she was the founding director of the Citizens Committee on Children of New York City. She continued working in a variety of projects involving labor in the city until her death in 1956.

Personal life and legacy

Carr was involved in a fatal car accident in 1931, when the state car she was driving from Harrisburg to Philadelphia[15] hit a truck, and the truck's driver died.[16] The Dauphin County coroner's office ruled the Carr was driving "in a reckless manner" and recommended she be charged with involuntary manslaughter,[17] and she lost her driver's license.[18] [19]

Carr attended a meeting about housing rehabilitation hours before she died in her sleep in 1956, aged 66 years, in New York.[20] [21] Eleanor Roosevelt attended Carr's funeral and wrote a column in her memory. "Her life was so full and so valuable to so many people that one can only be thankful that she had 66 years in which to give of her extraordinary powers," wrote Roosevelt, adding "I don't think she was ever afraid of any situation."[22] There is a collection of Charlotte E. Carr's papers at the Schlesinger Library, Harvard University.[23]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Opdycke. Sandra. Carr, Charlotte Elizabeth (1890-1956), social worker and reformer. live. 2021-03-07. American National Biography. 2000. en. 10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1500114. 978-0-19-860669-7 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180603095742/http://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1500114 . 2018-06-03 .
  2. News: 1956-07-13. Charlotte Carr, Relief Aide, Dies; Noted Social Worker Served With La Guardia and Was Hull House Director Reduced Relief Cases Succeeded Jane Addams. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-03-07. 0362-4331.
  3. News: 1928-02-08. Speaks Here. 6. The Tribune. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: 1933-08-13. Former Policewoman Fights for Fair Working Conditions. 28. Chattanooga Daily Times. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: 1934-01-11. Labor Expert Will Give Address Here. 4. The Tribune. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  6. Carr. Charlotte E.. 1925. The State's Regulation of Home Work. Laws Administered by the Department of Labor and Industry, Pennsylvania. 88–92.
  7. Web site: Charlotte E Carr. 2021-03-07. Department of Labor & Industry. en-US.
  8. News: 1933-07-18. Miss Carr Named to Pinchot Cabinet; Miss Perkins's Ex-Aide Chosen for Labor and Industry Post in Pennsylvania. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-03-07. 0362-4331.
  9. Miller. Nancy R.. 2008. Cornelia Bryce Pinchot and the Struggle for Protective Labor Legislation in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 132. 1. 33–64. 20093980. 0031-4587.
  10. News: 1933-07-18. Second Woman in Pinchot Cabinet Takes Oath of Office. 2. Harrisburg Telegraph. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  11. Web site: Roosevelt. Eleanor. November 19, 1937. My Day. live. 2021-03-07. The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition. https://web.archive.org/web/20150922083850/http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eerpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1937&_f=md054803 . 2015-09-22 .
  12. News: 1937-07-16. Charlotte E. Carr Heads Hull House. 30. The Dayton Herald. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  13. News: 1937-07-16. Quits New York Relief Work to be Head of Hull House. 10. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  14. News: 1956-07-14. Prominent Social Worker Charlotte E. Carr Dies. 26. The Journal Herald. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: 1931-10-26. Miss Charlotte Carr Held Responsible for Death of Daniel Peters, Campbelltown. 3. Lebanon Semi-Weekly News. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  16. News: October 24, 1931. Jury Blames Miss Carr in Peters Death. 6. The Evening News. March 7, 2021. Newspapers.com.
  17. News: 1931-10-24. Woman Autoist Accused in Man's Death. 2. Lancaster New Era. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  18. News: 1931-11-09. Miss Charlotte E. Carr Will Defend Right to Driver's License Today. 4. The Daily News. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  19. News: November 23, 1931. Woman Official of State Loses Driving License. 12. New Castle News. March 7, 2021. Newspapers.com.
  20. Book: Charlotte E. Carr, May 3, 1890-July 12, 1956: Tribute by Her Friends, Given at the Memorial Services at Saint Philip's Church. 1956. en.
  21. News: 1956-07-13. Charlotte E. Carr (Obituary). 67. Daily News. 2021-03-07. Newspapers.com.
  22. Web site: Roosevelt. Eleanor. July 18, 1956. My Day. live. 2021-03-07. The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition. https://web.archive.org/web/20140505045756/http://www.gwu.edu:80/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1956&_f=md003539 . 2014-05-05 .
  23. Web site: Papers of Charlotte, E. Carr, ca.1900-1956. live. 2021-03-07. Harvard Library. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203001705/https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/8/resources/6214 . 2020-12-03 .

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