GSSW's history reflects a tradition of progressive human services in the West. For example, Colorado was the second state to grant women the vote and one of the first to legislate financial support for dependent children. Denver had the nation's first professionally staffed public welfare department, its first coalition to fund private charities and one of its earliest juvenile courts.
This forward thinking paved the way for our school's founding at the height of America's Great Depression. And we've been helping to shape the history of social work ever since.
1864--Territorial Governor John Evans founded the Colorado Seminary, which later became
the University of Denver.
1931--The University of Denver's Department of Applied Social Science (later Social Work) was founded by a coalition of agencies including the Community Chest and the Denver chapter of the American Association of Social Workers. It was the only program of its kind between the Mississippi River and the West Coast.
1933--The Department of Social Work was accredited by the American Association of Professional Schools of Social Work. Our accreditation has been continuous ever since.
1942--The Department of Social Work at the University of Denver became the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW).
1968--We became one of the first social work schools in the United States to establish a doctoral program.
1979--Our Institute of Gerontology was founded as a center of research and training. GSSW faculty members also helped to found the Denver International Program to bring professionals from around the world to Denver for internships.
1991--GSSW's Bridge Project was founded to provide tutoring, mentoring and college scholarships to children and youth in Denver's public housing communities.
1992--Our school began its long-standing partnership with China Youth College (later University) in Beijing to support creation of the social work profession in China.
1994--Our Child Welfare Training and Research Center was founded. It was later renamed the Erna and Brad Butler Institute for Families.
2005--Rebecca T. and James P. Craig Hall opened as our new, state-of-the-art facility.
2006--Our Institute for Human-Animal Connection was founded, the first such institute in a school of social work.
