Family Planning for Low-Income African American Families: Contributions of Social Work Pioneer Ophelia Settle Egypt.

Historically, African Americans made huge contributions to the field of social welfare and the social work profession, yet little has been written about them in the professional literature. This article explores the contributions of pioneering social worker Ophelia Settle Egypt. A thorough assessment of her pioneering role would reveal her unique work as an educator, researcher, and grassroots social worker, but the focus here is on her innovative commitment to the Planned Parenthood movement. Egypt's work around population control in her Southeast Washington, DC, neighborhood with low-income African American families in the early 1950s became a labor of love in her community that can help inform current practice approaches in urban environments with African American populations.