Melba, President FDR had fully established the first National Welfare System by 1935. This was a big change from the previous history of the US's way of handling things. Before this time, it was handled on the local and even state levels. This varied tremendously until around 1910. In 1909, Teddy Roosevelt called for a committee to look into the problems with poor single mothers and their childern. Starting in 1911, states began to implement "mother's pensions" which became the leading "welfare" help in the US. Keep in mind this was only for mother's and their children, not fathers or full families. Of interesting note though for this discussion is the first 2 yrs of the "New Deal", that FDR put in place, was just for the unemployeed, not for the unemployable. The difference was someone that was able to work and someone that was unable to work (widows, poor children, elderly, and disabled). The unemployable were still handled by state and local programs. Social Security was signed into existence in 1935 by FDR. This established the foundation of many of the "welfare" environment of today. SS itself is a part of that national welfare system that FDR established. The idea was that SS would evidently decline the need for other welfare needs as the population grew older and as the nation came out of the Great Depression. This obviously wasn't the case and mainly because of farm laborers and domestic servants that didn't get the benefits of SS, so the cycle wasn't ever really broken fully and the need continued on throughout the years. In 1992, Bill Clinton ran for President and part of his campaign was to end the national welfare environment as we knew it for the last almost 60 yrs. In 1996, President Clinton and Congress signed a reform act that moved most of welfare control back to the states and away from the federal govt. The AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) was established in 1936. It provided cash aid to about 500,000 children and parents at the beginning. By 1969, that number had grown to 7 million. There have been other programs added over the years. Things like food stamps, Medicaid and Social Security Income. So to answer your question... There were some federal programs in place to help single mothers in 1938-1941, and there was probably some local/state programs as well. The one thing to consider also is that is the time leading up to the US involvement in WWII. While the country wasn't involved during those years, it was still providing supplies and aid to the allied forces, so some programs were not fully funded. Hope some of this helps explain the time a little more... Drew Slate Fort Worth, Tx ---- Ruthimp@aol.com wrote: > Since we have so many senior citizens on this site that either lived it the > Red River area or knows a lot about it, please let me ask this question. What > kind of Welfare did the area have in the time frame of 1938 - 1941. Or did > the U.S. Gov. or the state of Texas have such a thing? What I'm asking, were > people able to get help of ANY kind during that period? Money? Food? etc. A > relative told me that he and his mother had to get Welfare when he was a very > young boy, until she could find a job. I was told by another family member > that family help him and his mother. I'm just curious because I didn't think > there was such a thing as welfare that far back. ????? > > If no one knows, does anyone know where I could start looking for the info? > > Thanks, > Melba > > > > ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at > http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TXREDRIV-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message