ABSTRACT
Harry Lloyd Hopkins was born August 17, 1890, in Sioux City, Iowa, and grew up in Grinnell, Iowa, where, after several moves, his family settled in 1901. Upon graduating from college, Hopkins went to New York City, where he became a social worker and rose rapidly in the Association for Improving the Poor. In 1913, Hopkins married Ethel Gross, who shared his interest in social reform. Although Hopkins achieved notable success as a social worker, his greatest accomplishments came as a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration. When Roosevelt became president in 1933, he brought Hopkins to Washington to head the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which granted money to states for unemployment relief. Although Works Progress Administration (WPA) involved the federal government more heavily than ever before in unemployment relief, Hopkins operated it in a decentralized fashion. Harry Hopkins was one of the truly important men of twentieth century American history.
