Written by Laurie Nordahl, MSW Intern for SMUMN
So much of our present is dependent on our past. Not only is this true personally, but it is true in our shared social and political history as well. When we consider the rights and opportunities we now enjoy (many of which go largely unnoticed on a day-to-day basis), we must look back and witness the changemakers who paved the way.
As a Master of Social Work student, we are taught to see the world holistically. We must look at the big picture, at all of the brushstrokes that contribute to it, and at the history of the paint itself. This approach applies to every element of our world, including the lived experience of caregivers, care receivers, and seniors as a whole.
Today, we are going to look back and witness the work of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, the woman who would found the organization that would become AARP and after whom the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center would be named, which can be found at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, the oldest and largest existing professional school of gerontology to date.
Ethel, born in San Francisco in 1884, grew up a Midwest girl in the windy city of Chicago. She would go on to earn her Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago in 1903 at the young age of 19. She then went into teaching, including conducting classes at two of the original settlement houses: Hull House (a significant landmark in the origins of social work) and Chicago Commons.
After she and her family moved back to California, Ethel taught at two Los Angeles high schools. In 1916, she moved to East Los Angeles High School and soon became California’s first female high school principal at just 32. She changed the name of the school to Abraham Lincoln High School in recognition of the large, ethnically diverse student body and in hopes of inspiring pride in each student’s cultural background. Celebrating diversity was a core value in Ethel's work.
Ethel would then earn her Bachelor of Science degree from Lewis Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) in 1918 and earn her master's degree in 1928 and her doctoral degree in 1930, both from the University of Southern California. She had a deep affinity for learning and saw herself as a lifelong student.
In 1944, after serving three decades of her life as principal with many monumental achievements to her name, Ethel retired to become a caregiver for her mother, whose health had taken a turn. An experience many of our readers understand firsthand.
In her retirement and her new role as a caregiver, Ethel saw how greatly retired teachers and seniors, in general, struggled financially, many to the point of inability to tend to their health care and even losing safe housing. There just weren’t enough safety nets to support the aging community, which meant many seniors' health, financial security, and connection to each other suffered as a result. Ethel saw this as a great injustice and, in response, she established the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) in 1947, which amplified the voices of retired teachers across the country in an effort to secure more economic stability and address health insurance needs for retired educators.
Most insurance companies at this time believed it was risky to offer health insurance to people 65 and older, so Ethel approached them with the idea of developing an affordable group health insurance policy for retired teachers. She was turned down by 42 insurance companies before one finally agreed to work with her. The resulting plan was so popular that NRTA offices were overwhelmed with requests from non-educators, especially seniors, hoping to purchase this more accessible and affordable health insurance.
In 1958 (at the age of 74), Ethel expanded the NRTA to include all seniors, not just teachers, and founded the American Association of Retired Persons, which is what we know today as AARP. Because of her tireless efforts and visionary work, AARP developed affordable group health insurance an unbelievable seven years before Medicare was signed into law. Seven years.
Within AARP, Ethel would advocate for policy changes, develop a magazine to ensure information about physical and financial safety was widely distributed to seniors, and set precedents that would drive down prescription costs, increase senior accessibility to independence and travel, and prompt companies to expand senior-focused services and support. She also developed home designs and retirement communities that were crafted with the realities of aging in mind. This would become the sect of AARP that advocates for livable communities for all.
Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus advocated for a better quality of life for seniors to the point of invention and innovation. She believed in everyone’s inherent worth, the importance of embracing the experience of life for the entirety of the lifespan, and that our government and free market should offer concentrated supports for seniors. She spent her senior years holding to those beliefs and fighting for the seniors who would come after her.
Ethel passed in 1967 and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. The Extra Mile National Monument in Washington, D.C., which pays homage to Americans who advocate for meaningful social change for the good of all, selected Ethel as one of its 37 honorees. She is honored alongside notable activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, Cesar Chavez, Frederick Douglass, Jane Addams, and Harriet Tubman. This is the level of her impact. Monumental.
Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus was a changemaker. Her work affects all of us and it’s important to look back and witness her. It is too easy to take for granted so much that has been so hard won.
And it was, indeed, hard won.
What changes have you noticed in your lifetime? What changes have you, yourself, advocated for, whether in your personal life or for the broader community? What changes can you advocate for now?
The wonderful reality is: Every one of us has the magic within us to be changemakers.
Every one of us is, at this very moment, making a more significant impact than we realize. Caregivers, especially, are doing incredible, impactful work every single day. Change doesn't have to be broad and sweeping to be meaningful. Change can be as simple as practicing more patience, encouraging others to speak directly to your care partner rather than around them, or picking up the phone to call the doctor again. Every effort counts. Ethel, like any of us, painted one brushstroke at a time.
We are all part of the bigger picture and we are all holding a paintbrush. How will you use it? How will you take notice of the ones who have painted before you? How will you honor and emulate the work and memory of changemakers like Ethel?
I, for one, encourage you to notice the colors. Notice the painters. And, not least of all, notice your own unique artistry. It's beautiful. And it matters.
Thank you for painting.
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