Hiding in plain sight: recovering public administration’s lost legacy of social justice

Abstract Following Camilla Stivers’ historical account in Bureau Men/Settlement Women, this paper traces social equity within public administration to the Progressive Era and specifically to the New Deal when it became an explicit federal government commitment across policies, programs, and administration. By taking an approach focused on gender, the paper makes visible a “network” of progressive women administrators, including Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, Frances Perkins, Josephine Roche, and Mary McCleod Bethune, all of whom were dedicated to social justice as a core administrative value. The aim of laying out this broader and deeper historical context for public administration is to encourage contemporary public administration scholars to draw upon this context in their own teaching and inquiry.