Collection Guide
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An Inventory of the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection Records
XX393
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Table of contents
Title: White House Conference on Child Health and Protection Records
Dates: 1909-1950
Collection number: XX393
Creator:
White House Conference on Child Health and Protection (1930: Washington, D.C.)
Collection Size:
150 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 scrapbook, 3 linear foot boxes
64 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: The records consist of correspondence, expense statements, memoranda, pamphlets, and reports, relating to the physical and
social condition of children in the United States, the status of school health education and health service programs, and
proposals for the promotion of child welfare. Reports of the American Child Health Association are included.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
The collection is open for research
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives
[Identification of item], White House Conference on Child Health and Protection records, [Box no.], Hoover Institution Archives
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Additional records of the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection are held by the Herbert Hoover Presidential
Library and the National Archives in the Washington, D.C. area. Publications of the conference may be available at libraries
holding U.S. government records.
The White House Conference on Child Health and Protection was convened by President Herbert Hoover in Washington, D.C. on
November 19-21, 1930, to raise awareness and focus public attention on issues affecting children. These conferences on children
and youth were held at approximately ten-year intervals starting in 1909.
A Planning Committee was set up in July 1929 with Ray Lyman Wilbur and other individuals who were experts in their fields
to work out detailed plans for a conference to "study the present status of the health and well-being of the children of the
United States and its possessions; to report what is being done; to recommend what ought to be done and how to do it." Julia
Lathrop, first chief of the Children's Bureau and her successor, Grace Abbott, were involved in the Planning Committee.
Recommendations of the Planning Committee prompted President Hoover to invite all interested people across the country to
participate in a conference in Washington, D.C. on November 19-21, 1930, to discuss issues affecting children's lives and
exchange ideas. Out of these discussions came recommendations covering prenatal care, parenting skills, education, health,
and development of social skills for all children. Thirty-one volumes of information prepared by the White House conference
were incorporated into a nineteen point statement and designated the Children's Charter. It carried a promise from all delegates
that they would try to make it a reality.
The November conference was only the first part of President Hoover's program. The second part was to convene follow-up conferences
in communities and neighborhoods where children lived. Such conferences were convened in thirty-two states, two hundred counties,
and many communities, and generated public support.
The collection includes records of the American Child Health Association. It was created in 1923 out of a friendship between
Herbert Hoover and Dr. L. Emmett Holt. Their plan was to integrate various volunteer organizations to make it easier to administer
finances and carry out welfare programs for children. Its main focus was on education, health care, family environment, and
nutrition, which they considered essential ingredients of a productive life for children. It existed until 1935.
Scope and Content of Collection
The records of the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection consist of correspondence, expense statements, memoranda,
pamphlets, and reports, relating to the physical and social condition of children in the United States, the status of school
health education and health service programs, and proposals for the promotion of child welfare. Reports of the American Child
Health Association are included.
Much of the material is organized according to the names of various committees, subcommittees, sections, and subsections.
Recommendations and reports of these committees are included in the collection, many under a separate "Reports" heading. The
White House conference was followed by conferences at state and local levels; records of these are organized under "Follow-up
Conferences." The materials also include earlier and later records of other conferences as well as various public and private
organizations.
Additional records of the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection are held by the Herbert Hoover Presidential
Library and the National Archives in the Washington, D.C. area. Publications of the conference may be available at libraries
holding U.S. government records.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in Stanford University's online catalog.
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
Child welfare--United States.
Child health services--United States.
School hygiene--United States.
American Child Health Association.