Selene Gifford

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Selene Gifford
An older white woman wearing round glasses and a dark dress or jacket
Selene Gifford, from a 1964 publication of the United States federal government
BornMay 30, 1901
Rochester, Massachusetts
DiedJuly 21, 1979 (1979-07-22) (aged 78)
Leesburg, Virginia
Occupation(s)Social worker, federal official, international relief worker
Known forFederal Woman's Award (1964)

Selene Gifford (May 30, 1901 – July 21, 1979) was an American social worker, and an international and federal government official. She won the Federal Woman's Award in 1964, for her work and leadership at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Early life[edit]

Selene Gifford was born in Rochester, Massachusetts, the daughter of George G. Gifford and Elizabeth Anna Sherman Gifford.

Career[edit]

During the Great Depression, Gifford was a social worker in various states. In 1936, she was assistant regional social worker with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in West Virginia.[1] In 1938 she was a speaker at a Florida state conference on social work.[2] By 1940 she was chief regional supervisor of the WPA in the deep South, and spoke to the Mississippi Conference of Social Workers.[3]

In 1943 Gifford was a public welfare consultant at the War Relocation Authority, tasked with visiting Japanese internment camps.[4][5] She argued for the employment of White conscientious objectors at the camps,[6] and spoke about the camps on a panel with Mike Masaoka and Annie Clo Watson at a social work convention.[7]

After World War II, she was based overseas: she served as deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy in Cairo, was Director of Displaced Persons at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in London,[8] and worked in Geneva with the International Refugee Organization on relief, resettlement and rehabilitation programs.[9][10][11]

President Lyndon B. Johnson poses in the Oval Office with six white women, all winners of the 1964 Federal Woman's Award; from left to right: Elizabeth Messer, Evelyn Anderson, Gertrude Blanch, President Johnson, Patricia van Delden, Margaret Schwartz, and Selene Gifford
President Lyndon B. Johnson poses in the Oval Office with six winners of the 1964 Federal Woman's Award; from left to right: Elizabeth Messer, Evelyn M. Anderson, Gertrude Blanch, President Johnson, Patricia van Delden, Margaret Schwartz, and Selene Gifford

Gifford, who was white, spent most of her career at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[12][13] She became head of the bureau's Division of Community Services in 1949,[9][14] and assistant commissioner of the bureau in 1952.[15] In 1958, she testified before a House committee on funding for the education of American Indian children.[16][17] In 1961, she testified before a Senate committee on the constitutional rights of the American Indian.[11] She also established job placement programs,[18] studied issues of law enforcement funding,[19] and supported the repeal of discriminatory laws regarding the sale of alcohol to Native Americans, saying "I do not deny that drinking is a problem among the Indians. But isn't it with any group of people?"[20] In 1962, Gifford received the bureau's Citation for Distinguished Service.[12] In 1964, she received the Federal Woman's Award.[21][22] She retired from the bureau in 1965.[14]

Personal life[edit]

Selene Gifford died from colon cancer in Leesburg, Virginia in 1979, aged 78 years. Her grave is with those of her siblings, in Rochester, Massachusetts.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stone Again is Welfare Head". The Charleston Daily Mail. 1936-04-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "State Welfare Program Opens Sunday Night". Tampa Bay Times. 1938-03-23. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "WPA Region Chief Slated for Speech at Assembly Here". Clarion-Ledger. 1940-04-18. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Welfare Head Studies Problem". Gila News-Courier. June 19, 1943. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  5. ^ Park, Yoosun (2019-10-17). Facilitating Injustice: The Complicity of Social Workers in the Forced Removal and Incarceration of Japanese Americans, 1941-1946. Oxford University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-19-008135-5.
  6. ^ Gifford, Selene to Mr. Myer (April 7, 1943), Memorandum.
  7. ^ "Masaoka May Speak to U.S. Social Workers" (PDF). Pacific Citizen. February 25, 1943. p. 3. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  8. ^ Taylor, Lynne (2017-11-29). In the Children's Best Interests: Unaccompanied Children in American-Occupied Germany, 1945-1952. University of Toronto Press. pp. 174–175. ISBN 978-1-4875-1516-4.
  9. ^ a b "Indian Bureau Has New Welfare Head". Rapid City Journal. 1949-12-29. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Buchen, Charlotte (1959-03-17). "Capitol Executive is Phoenix Visitor". Arizona Republic. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights (1962). Constitutional Rights of the American Indian. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 123–130.
  12. ^ a b "Selene Gifford is Given Citation". Northern Virginia Sun. August 3, 1962. Retrieved August 21, 2021 – via Virginia Chronicle.
  13. ^ "Federal Woman's Award to be Presented Tonight". Newsday (Nassau Edition). 1964-03-03. p. 37. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Bureau Announces Official Changes". The Missoulian. 1965-12-31. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Woman is Named to Indian Bureau Post". The Independent-Record. 1952-05-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ United States Congress House Committee on Education and Labor (1958). Proposed Amendments to Public Laws 815 and 874, 81st Congress (assistance to Federally Affected School Districts).: Hearings Before a Subcommittee ... Eighty-fifth Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 719–724.
  17. ^ "Reservation's Schools are Held Inadequate". Arizona Daily Star. 1953-12-11. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Off-Reservation Jobs for 3000 Indians Goal". Reno Gazette-Journal. 1951-11-08. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Study Indian Law Problem". The Kansas City Times. 1956-08-21. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Official Lauds Indians". Arizona Republic. 1958-04-20. p. 87. Retrieved 2021-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "6 Women Selected for Federal Award". The New York Times. 1964-02-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  22. ^ Johnson, Lyndon Baines (March 3, 1964). "Remarks to the Winners of the Federal Woman's Award". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
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