Mary Elizabeth Switzer (February 16, 1900 - October 16, 1971) was an American

public administrator Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

and

social reformer Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

. She is best remembered for her work on the 1954 Vocational Rehabilitation Act, which provided a great expansion of vocational rehabilitation service for

people with disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

. She publicized the government's growing role in vocational rehabilitation and encouraged expansion of vocational rehabilitation projects among

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Education and career

Switzer graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

in 1921 with a B.A. in international law and started working for the federal government: first as an assistant secretary to the Minimum Wage Board and then for

U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

under the

Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant Se ...

and the

Federal Security Agency The Federal Security Agency (FSA) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. For a time, the agency oversaw food ...

, becoming increasingly concerned with

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

issues. Switzer became director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1950 and the first administrator of the Social and Rehabilitation Service in 1967. She retired in 1970 as the highest ranking female bureaucrat in the federal government and became vice-president of the World Rehabilitation Fund until her death a year later. Switzer was the first woman to serve on the Board of Directors at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1969. She served as president of the National Rehabilitation Association from 1960 to 1961 and as advisor to many American health organizations, including the Menninger Foundation and

St. Elizabeths Hospital St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. The hospital opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for th ...

. In recognition of her contributions to vocational rehabilitation, Switzer received the President's Certificate of Merit in 1948, the

Albert Lasker Award In 1945 Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker created the Lasker Awards. Every year since then the award has been given to the living person considered to have made the greatest contribution to medical science or who has demonstrated public ser ...

in 1960 with Paul Wilson Brand and

Gudmund Harlem Gudmund Harlem (24 July 1917 – 22 March 1988) was a Norwegian physician and politician for the Labour Party. He was the Norwegian Minister of Social Affairs from 1955 to 1961 and Norwegian Minister of Defence from 1961 to 1965 (except for a ...

, the American Association of Workers for the Blind's Ambrose M. Shotwell Memorial Award in 1962, and the

Edward Miner Gallaudet Edward Miner Gallaudet ( ; February 5, 1837 – September 26, 1917), was the first president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. (then known as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind from 1864 unti ...

Award in 1970. Switzer received honorary degrees from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

in 1969, Gallaudet College,

Russell Sage College Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduat ...

, and five other universities. Switzer died in 1971 and was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

Commemoration

Mary Switzer Building The Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building is a federally owned office building located at 330 C Street SW in Washington, D.C. in the United States. The Egyptian Revival structure was originally named the Railroad Retirement Board Building. It was des ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

houses some components of the

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

* Mary E. Switzer Building,

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

Rehabilitation Center campus, Fishersville, VA, features a display of Switzer's memorabilia
Mary Switzer Research Fellowships
are administered by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is a program of the United States Department of Education. OSERS' official mission is "to provide leadership to achieve full integration and participation in society of people ...

References

External links

*
Mary Elizabeth Switzer Papers
from the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library,

Radcliffe Institute The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Switzer, Mary E. 1900 births 1971 deaths American civil servants 20th-century American women civil servants Radcliffe College alumni Vocational rehabilitation Burials at Ivy Hill Cemetery (Alexandria, Virginia) People from Newton, Massachusetts

Education and career

Commemoration

References

Further reading

External links