Ethel Paley (October 8, 1920

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, England ...

- November 18, 2019

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

) was a social worker who advocated for the rights of nursing home patients and their families.

Biography

Paley was born Ethel Louise Schneider to Herman, a restaurateur and Ida, a homemaker. They moved to

Willimantic, Connecticut Willimantic is a census-designated place located in Windham, Connecticut, United States. Previously organized as a city and later as a Borough (Connecticut), borough, Willimantic is currently one of two Local government in Connecticut#Special ta ...

from

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

during the Depression. She served in Washington, DC in 1943 as a member of the

WAVES United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

. When she returned, she used the

G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...

to attend

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, earning a bachelor’s degree in American history and economics in 1949. She earned her

Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work ...

, with a concentration in community organization, from the

Columbia University School of Social Work The Columbia School of Social Work is the graduate school of social work of Columbia University in New York City. It is one of the oldest social work programs in the US, with roots extending back to 1898. It began awarding a Master of Science d ...

. She was a resident of the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

for over 60 years.

Career

After Barnard, Paley worked at the

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the ...

and directed the school’s career office. Paley founded the non-profit Friends and Relatives of the Institutionalized Aged (FRIA) in 1976 which operated until its bankruptcy in 2011. Paley was the first executive director. Her work led to the formation o
Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC)
FRIA operated a hotline, available in English and Spanish and staffed by social work students.

Awards and honors

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

presented Paley with the Governor’s Seniors of Distinction Award in 1994. In 2010, she received the L'Oréal Women of Worth Award and was inducted in the Columbia School of Social Work Hall of Fame in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paley, Ethel 1920 births 2019 deaths Barnard College alumni Columbia University School of Social Work alumni WAVES personnel American social workers People from Willimantic, Connecticut People from Flushing, Queens Columbia University School of Social Work Hall of Fame Inductees American elder rights activists American health activists American disability rights activists 20th-century American people 20th-century American women 21st-century American people 21st-century American women