Collection Overview
Feldman, Yonata
Yonata Feldman Papers1937-1981
MS 201
7 boxes
(3.5 linear ft.)
Sophia Smith Collection
Smith College
Northampton, MA
Social worker and professor. Specializing in treatment of emotionally disturbed children, Feldman conducted seminars and institutes around the country; and served as consultant for numerous institutions, social work agencies, and case workers. Material includes writings (including autobiographical material), teaching material, correspondence, case notes, and photographs.
English.
Biographical Note
Yonata Feldman "with Mrs. Bell, ready
for a call to service to the Comstock
team" at the Smith School for Social
Work baseball game, July 4, 1957
Yonata Feldman served on the faculty of the Smith College School for Social Work for many years. She was born in 1892 in Estonia and studied at the Imperial University of Jurjew; her education was interrupted when the Germans invaded Russia in 1912. Before emigrating to the United States, she taught at, and was principal of, an elementary school in Estonia. She earned her M.A. from the Chicago University School of Social Service Administration in 1923, specializing in the treatment of emotionally disturbed children. From 1923 to 1928 Feldman was a social worker at the Chicago Jewish Children's Bureau, and from 1925 to 1928 also worked with disturbed children at the Chicago Institute for Juvenile Research. From 1928 to 1961, she was employed at the Madeleine Borg Child Guidance Institute of the Jewish Board of Guardians in New York City, working her way up from caseworker to casework supervisor to "boro" supervisor. In 1950, she joined the faculty of the Smith College School for Social Work where she served until 1974. Throughout her career, she conducted seminars and institutes for various institutions and professional groups, among them Western Reserve University, The College of William and Mary, Mt. Sinai Hospital, the Presbyterian Hospital of the New York Medical Center, Lebanon Hospital and the Board of Education of the City of New York. She also served as case consultant for numerous institutions, social work agencies, and case workers in private practice. She died on August 28, 1981 in New York, NY.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Yonata Feldman's papers consist of 3.5 linear feet of material, dating from 1938 to 1981. They are divided into three series. Series I. Biographical Material (1980-81), .25", includes autobiographical statements about Feldman's experiences in German-occupied Russia during World War I, when she was separated from her family for an extended period. Also of interest are her reflections on and anecdotes about her years at the Smith College School for Social Work. Series II. Professional Activities (1940-81), 1.75', is comprised primarily of teaching records, which include supervisory and case notes. Case files are arranged alphabetically by surname of student (not by name of client). The series also contains teaching notes, syllabi, class rosters, critiques of case studies, summaries and minutes of seminars and institutes, typescripts of writings, bibliographies, and printed matter, as well as material pertaining to professional organizations with which Feldman was affiliated. Series III. Writings (1945-80), .5', includes typescripts and draft manuscripts of Feldman's writings. In Series IV. Photographs (1957-76, n.d.), .25', several images of Feldman and her S.C.S.S.W. students can be found.
Organization of the Collection
This collection is organized into four series:
-
[I. Biographical Material](list-ser1)
-
[II. Professional Activities](list-ser2)
-
[III. Writings](list-ser3)
-
[IV. Photographs](list-ser4)
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[BOOKS ON SHELF](list-serBKS)
Information on Use
Terms of Access and Use
The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection, with the following exceptions:
Researchers wishing to review teaching records must sign a contract agreeing to abide by the specified restrictions (details are attached to the Certificate of Gift).
The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to unpublished works of Yonata Feldman. Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission must be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use."
Preferred Citation
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Yonata Feldman Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, MA
Additions to the Collection
Periodic additions to collection are expected.
History of the Collection
Prior to her death in 1981, Yonata Feldman arranged with Katherine Gabel, former Dean of the Smith College School for Social Work, to donate her papers to the Sophia Smith Collection; the papers were transferred in 1984. Joan Moore West donated additional material in 1984, as did the School for Social Work in 1988. Pauline Doynow donated photographs in 2001.
Processed by Burd Schlessinger, 2001.
Search Terms
Child psychology--Study and teaching--History--Sources
Russia--History--1801-1917--Sources
Smith College. School for Social Work.--Faculty--History--Sources
Social work education--United States--History--Sources
Social work with children--United States--History--Sources
Feldman, Yonata
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL
1
1a
Curriculum vita and autobiographical statements, 1980-81, n.d.
SERIES II. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
1
1b
Correspondence, 1948-75
Organizations
1
2-3
Council for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists, 1969-73
1
4
International Conference on Child Psychiatry, 1954
Jewish Board of Guardians
1
5
Bronx Office, 1940-41
1
6-7
Borderline Project, 1954
1
8
National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis, 1956
1
9
New York Association for the Blind, 1969
Students
Supervisory and case notes
2
10-35
B-G, 1965-81
3
36-67
G-S, 1960-80, n.d.
4
68-76
S-Z, unidentified, 1945-80
Teaching
Smith College School for Social Work
Program for Advanced Study--Advanced Casework
4
77
General information, 1961
4
78
Feldman's notes on sessions, 1961
Supervision in Social Casework
4
79
General information, 1965
4
80
Feldman's notes, 1965
4
81
Cases, 1965
4
82
Seminar 518: Roster, feedback form, 1977
4
82a
Seminar 66A and B: Student cards, n.d.
Jewish Orientation and Training Seminars
4
83
Correspondence and general information, 1971
4
84-85
Cases discussed, 1971
Manhattan Center for Advanced Psychoanalytic Studies
4
86-87
General information, 1977-78
4
88-89
Student case notes, 1977-78
4
90
Feldman's notes
Courses taught at unidentified institutions
Two-Summer Project in Supervision
5
91
Feldman's notes on sessions, 1962
5
92
Cases discussed
5
93
General information, 1963
5
94-95
General information, 1964
5
96
Feldman's notes on sessions, 1964
5
97
General information, 1965
5
98
Course 125: Feldman's notes, 1962
FC 104
5
99
Roster and notes, 1976
5
100
Feldman's notes for class discussion, 1976
5
101
Cases discussed, 1976
5
102-103
Feldman's notes, 1977-78
PT 9
5
104
Roster and notes, 1973
5
105
Students' case notes, 1973
5
106
Miscellaneous teaching material, 1973-77
5
107
Lectures by others, 1950-52
5
108
Miscellaneous notes, forms and unidentified fragments, 1938, n.d.
SERIES III. WRITINGS
5
108a
List of published and unpublished articles, n.d.
5
109
"An Approach Towards Understanding the Parents of Emotionally Disturbed Children," typescript and published article, 1958
5
110
"An Aspect in the Training of the Beginning Caseworker," typescript, n.d.
5
111
"And a Little Child Shall Lead Them," typescript, n.d.
5
112
"The Attempt at Healthy Insulation in the Withdrawn Child," published article, 1953
5
113
"The Case of Miriam Kohn," published article and photocopy, 1945
5
114
"Case Presentation for the Session on Cultural Content in the Curriculum of the School for Social Work," typescript, n.d
5
115
"A Case Work Approach in Apparently Unreachable Cases," typescript, 1958
5
116
"Contributing to Case Work Evaluation," typescript, n.d.
5
117
"Culture and Diagnosis," typescript, n.d.
6
118
"Direct Case Work With Children," typescripts and draft manuscripts, n.d.
6
119
"The Disguised Cry for Help," typescript, 1961
6
120
"The Early History of Modern Psychoanalysis," published article, 1978
6
121
"Ego Involvement in Case Work Training," typescript, 1960
6
122
"Ego Reinforcement in the Schizophrenic Child," typescript and published article, 1956
6
123
"Emotional Growing Pains," typescript, 1947
6
124
"Environmental Setting in a Child Guidance Agency," typescript, n.d.
6
125
"An Episode," typescript, n.d.
6
126
"An Evaluation of Intake," typescript, n.d.
6
127
"How Can Social Workers Stand Their Work," typescript, n.d.
6
128
"The Initial Investigation in Case Work," typescript, n.d.
6
129
"Listening and Understanding," photocopy of published article, 1975
6
130
"The Narcissistic Parent Who Needs Some Therapy in a Child Guidance Setting Before Permitting Help for Her Child," typescript, n.d.
6
131
"The Need for Insulation Reinforcement in the Schizophrenic Child," typescript, 1953
6
132
"A Note on Social Work History," typescript, n.d.
6
133
"One Aspect of Casework Training Through Supervision," published article, 1953
6
134
"An Outline of a Clinical Symptom Picture in Borderline Cases," typescript, 1947-48
6
135
"Peddling Case Work," typescript and draft manuscript, n.d.
6
136
"The Problem of the Giver and Receiver," typescript and published article, 1980
6
137
"The Problem of Uteral Anxiety," typescript, n.d.
6
138
"The Feldman Theory of Intrauterine Anxiety: Further Case Illustrations," by D.J. Riccio, typescript, n.d.
6
139
"Report of the Experience of the Bronx Office With Youth Board Cases," typescript, n.d.
6
140
"The Struggle for Insulation in Adolescence," typescript, 1952
6
141
"Study of Divided Cases," typescript, 1937
6
142
"The Supervisory Process--An Experience in Teaching and Learning," typescript, n.d.
6
143
"Sympathy and Empathy," draft manuscript, n.d.
6
144
"The Teaching Aspect of Casework Supervision, published article, 1950
6
145
"What is the Real Meaning of 'Acceptance?'," published article, 1958
6
146
"Withdrawal as a Mechanism for Insulation," typescript, n.d.
The Withdrawn Child
6
147
Proposal for book, n.d.
6
148
Preliminary outline and working paper, n.d.
6
149-150
Notes, 1954, n.d.
6
151
Table of contents and outline, n.d.
6
152
Fragments, n.d.
SERIES IV. PHOTOGRAPHS
7
153
Photographs, 1957-1976, n.d.
7
154
Photo album, 1957
BOOKS ON SHELF
7
Katherine Gabel, ed., Master Teacher and Supervisor in Clinical Social Work: Yonata Feldman (Northampton, MA: Smith College School for Social Work, 1982) [2 copies].