Global InformationIda Craven Merriam information
Ida Craven Merriam (1904–1997)[1] was an American economist and statistician who became "one of the seminal figures in the early administration of the Social Security program",[2] helping to found the nonprofit National Academy of Social Insurance.[3][4]
Ida Craven, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was born on November 6, 1904.[5] She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in English and history from Wellesley College in 1925,[2][6][4] where she was president of the Wellesley Forum.[7] She studied economics at the University of Chicago, and then earned a Ph.D. in 1928 from the Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government in Washington, D.C.[2][6][4] While working towards her doctorate at Brookings, she taught a summer economics class at the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry.[8] After completing her studies, she worked for the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and as an assistant professor at the Connecticut College for Women, and married Mylon Merriam in 1933.[6]
She left her position at Connecticut College in 1936 to work in the research and statistics bureau of the Social Security Administration,[2][9] soon after the creation of the SSA in 1935,[4] She became the head of that unit[2] and Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Research and Statistics in 1955.[6] As Assistant Commissioner, she published special reports on topics including housing, benefit levels, health insurance, disability, widows, work-life balance, prospects for future retirees, and related social welfare systems in Europe. Her unit also set the first poverty thresholds for the US.[3] She retired in 1972.[2]
In 1965, she was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association "for outstanding sustained accomplishments and contributions through statistical research to social insurance and social welfare."[10] The United States Civil Service Commission gave Merriam a Federal Woman's Award in 1966, and she also won the Distinguished Service Award of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.[6][4]
- ^ Birth date from Estes (2013); the listing in Social Security Pioneers gives her birthdate as 1905.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ida Craven Merriam", Social Security Pioneers, Social Security Administration, retrieved 2016-07-21
- ^ a b "Ida C. Merriam", Social Insurance Update, 1 (2), National Academy of Social Insurance: 9–10, March 1996.
- ^ a b c d e Estes, R.J. (April 2013), "Ida Craven Merriam (1904–1997): A leading figure in Social Security and quality of life research", Applied Research in Quality of Life, 8 (2): 275–76, doi:10.1007/s11482-013-9227-9
- ^ "Ida C Merriam". Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Ida Merriam Dies at 92", Washington Post, April 9, 1997(subscription required)
- ^ "Wellesley Politicians Ask Harvard Men To Speak", The Harvard Crimson, September 29, 1924.
- ^ "College Notes", Wellesley College News, p. 5, September 29, 1927.
- ^ "Mrs. Ida Merriam Takes Federal Post In Washington, D.C.", Connecticut College News, vol. 21, no. 25, p. 4, May 30, 1936.
- ^ "New ASA Fellows—1965", The American Statistician, 19 (4): 37–38, 1965, doi:10.1080/00031305.1965.10479746.