Oberlin's Women: A Legacy of Leadership & Activism

Elmina Rose Lucke

Elmina Rose Lucke (1889-1987, OC 1912) was an educator and social worker. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1912 and her early career included work as a high school teacher. Between 1917 and 1919, she began working for the U.S. Children’s Bureau in Indiana, where she directed social services and conducted surveys for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lucke founded and worked as the director of the Detroit International Institute, which provided social services for recent immigrants, from 1919 to 1923. She received her M.A. in 1927 from the International Law and Relations doctoral program at Columbia University. Continuing to work as a teacher over the years, Lucke founded and directed the Delhi School of Social Work in India between 1946 and 1949. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work in Egypt as a consultant in social work training for the Cairo School of Social Work from 1950 to 1951. During the mid to late 1950s, she worked as a consultant for the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Affairs, was appointed chairman of the United Nations Technical Assistance Program to Pakistan to advise on social work education, and served as a representative to the United Nations for the International Federation of University Women. In 1956, Oberlin College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Lucke also served as a delegate at the Tonga Conference for the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association and as a United Nations consultant for the Australian Council of Women. She was a member of the Oberlin College Alumni Board, the American Council on Nationalities Services, and many other organizations. Lucke is known for her efforts to create and improve programs in India to teach about social work.

Sources:
Student File (Elmina Rose Lucke), Alumni & Development Records, O.C.A.

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