Politics and Welfare in Birmingham, 1900–1975

This well-written volume explores the relationships between politics and welfare programs for low-income residents in Birmingham during four periods in the twentieth century: • 1900-1917, the formative period of city building when welfare was predominantly a responsibility of the private sector; • 1928-1941, when the Great Depression devastated the local economy and federal intervention became the principal means of meeting human need; • the mid 1950s, when the lasting impacts of the New De