Isabelle M. Kelley
Isabelle M. Kelley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 27, 1917 |
| Died | November 29, 1997(aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Social Worker |
| Years active | 1940–1973 |
| Known for | architect of the food stamp program |
Isabelle M. Kelley(27 July 1917 – 29 November 1997) was an Americansocial workerwho was the primary architect of the FederalFood Stamp Program.When she was appointed to be the director of the Division which oversaw the Food Stamp Program for theUS Department of Agriculture(USDA), she became the first woman to run a national social program or lead any Division of a federal agency. She has been inducted into theConnecticut Women's Hall of Fameand the USDA’s Hall of Heroes.
Early life and education
[edit]Isabelle M. Kelley was born on July 27, 1917, inEllington, Connecticut,to Hannah (née O'Connell) and Thomas W. Kelley, but her family soon moved toSimsburywhere her parent ran an inn.[1]She completed her secondary schooling there then enrolled in Agricultural Economics, at theUniversity of Connecticutgraduating in 1938 (the first woman to do so in the subject) and went on to attain a master's degree in food economics fromIowa State University.[2]
Career
[edit]In 1940, as soon as she graduated, Kelley began working for the USDA. She began studying trends in consumer purchasing and family nutrition. She was one of the first to understand the connection between health and cognition and pushed forward thePenny Milk Program.The program gave milk to school children for one penny and Kelley received the USDA’sSuperior Honor Awardfor her administration of the initiative. In 1946, she helped launch theNational School Lunch Program.[3]
In 1961, PresidentKennedyasked her to participate in a task force to investigate ending hunger and distribution of the food supply.[4]Initially, she ran a pilot program in eight of the most poverty-effected counties in the US and studied their nutritional needs as well as the impact on local retailers of instituting a coupon-based program. The following year, the program was expanded into 18 states. The program continued under PresidentJohnsontoward a permanent government program.[3]
As part of the commission's work, she became the primary author of theFood Stamp Act of 1964.The USDA appointed her in 1964 to be the first Director of the administrative division which oversaw the program, making her the first woman who had directed a national social program or led any Division of a federal agency.[4]The Food Stamp programme was supporting six million Americans withitn five years of its foundation.[1]
Kelley retired in 1973, but continued to advise on policies and programs of the USDA.[3]Beginning in 1974, she worked for a year and a half at the Graduate School ofGeorgetown University.In 1987, she was interviewed in the memoir program ofRadcliffe College,as one of the thirty-eight women participants, who had been former employees of the federal government.[2]
Kelley died on November 29, 1997, inBethesda, Maryland.[2]
Commemoration
[edit]In 2011, she was posthumously inducted into theConnecticut Women's Hall of Fame[3]and that same year was brought into the USDA’s Hall of Heroes.[4]In January 2019, Kelley was featured in theNew York TimesOverlookedseries obituaries on remarkable people whose deaths initially went unreported in newspaper.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abc"Overlooked No More: Isabelle Kelley, Who Developed a Food Stamp Program to Feed Millions".The New York Times.2019-01-16.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-07-23.
- ^abc"Kelley. Isabelle M. Kelley".Hartford, Connecticut: The Hartford Courant. December 2, 1997.Retrieved31 October2015.
- ^abcd"Isabelle M. Kelley".New Haven, Connecticut: Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. 2011.Retrieved31 October2015.
- ^abc"Congressional Record—Senate"(PDF).Washington, DC: United States Government. 26 April 2012. p. S2811.Retrieved31 October2015.
