Lathrop, << LAY thruhp, >> Julia Clifford (1858-1932), was the first chief of the Children’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor. Lathrop became the first woman to head an important U.S. government bureau. A friend of Jane Addams, she worked at Hull House almost from its beginning, first as a county visitor and then as a member of the Illinois State Board of Charities (see Hull House ). She resigned from the board in 1901, in protest against a political appointment, but was reappointed by a new governor. She served 11 years and helped establish the first Juvenile Court.
President William Howard Taft called her to the Children’s Bureau when it was formed in 1912, and she served as its chief until 1921. The bureau owes its emphasis on research and on qualified child-welfare workers to her. She encouraged states to improve birth registration and to provide aid for mothers to prevent unnecessary removal of their children. She was born on June 29, 1858, in Rockford, Illinois. She died on April 15, 1932.
