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Elberta
Julia Eriksson
By Nancy
Harris
In conjunction with the Writer's Center of Marin
“I began my career as a social worker at the age of four,” says
Elberta Eriksson. In and out of the hospital for two years as a patient herself,
Elberta quickly became an unofficial member of the staff, wheeling her way from
bed to bed, reassuring frightened and homesick children on the pediatric ward.
Before she was old enough to attend school, Elberta Eriksson was taking care of
those in need.
She was born Elberta Julia Henderson and reared in a large, lively
Oakland home that held at least four generations of family at any given time.
Elberta’s grandmother, the oldest of thirteen children and reigning matriarch
of the household, gathered her twelve siblings and their families under the
King-Holloway roof for every occasion. Elberta’s childhood home also held many
youthful kin from the Philippines who came to the U.S. to complete their
studies.
“It was a multiculturally diverse household,” recalls Elberta, “and
in those days our extended family included everyone in the neighborhood as well.
There was a strong sense of very solid kinship and community ties.”
Elberta, the youngest member of the Henderson family, was dubbed
“Little Mama,” by her grandmother and great aunts for her take-charge manner
and precociously nurturing ways. Her father, John Charles Henderson, was a
prominent politician and attorney; her mother, Regina Populous Henderson, a
community activist; both had aspirations for their youngest child.
“My father, an outspoken proponent of individual empowerment, wanted me
to follow in his footsteps and become an attorney; my mother encouraged my
education but also enforced the cultural stereotypes of the day by telling me I
would marry and have children.”
While earning her Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State
University, Elberta considered going on to law school. Newly discovered role
models and influential events at the university, however, transformed her career
goals.
“Before attending college, I’d never heard of the field of social
work. Then I met Professor Seton Manning. He was a pioneer in the area of
cultural sensitivity. His intellect and enthusiasm for social work made me
think, challenged me.”
Elberta’s emerging social conscience and determination to become an
advocate for the disadvantaged were also fueled by political events on campus,
where she and her colleagues demonstrated in the streets on behalf of the
victims of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Committee on Un-American
Activities.
“There was a repressive climate which made it impossible for groups
seeking harmonious relations with communist countries. Those of us advocating
peaceful resolution to international conflict or speaking out for disarmament
were suspected of being enemies of our own nation.”
Of particular concern to Elberta and her colleagues was the vicious and
aggressive attack conducted by McCarthy’s committee against university
professors. Academic careers were destroyed when committee members launched
incendiary accusations of treason against instructors who merely spoke
critically of governmental policy in their classroom lectures.
“I began to understand the
interplay of various political and cultural forces at work which impeded
individuals from speaking their minds, from achieving and maintaining the
self-empowerment my father had modeled so ardently. In speaking out on behalf of
my teachers, I also realized the importance of a support system such as the one
my grandmother fostered in our home. Someone has to speak up for those
victimized by social and political factors beyond their control. At San
Francisco State, social work became my mission.”
After graduation, Elberta married and relocated to southern California
where her oldest child, Regina Marie, was born. In 1956, a divorced, single
mother, she returned with her daughter to the Bay Area, settling in Marin. While
Regina attended Central Elementary School in Sausalito, her mother commuted to
San Francisco where she was employed as a caseworker for both the Department of
Social Services and Kaiser Hospital.
“In those days, social workers did everything that needed to be done on
each client’s behalf; there was no specialization. I provided a range of
services to the elderly and to needy children alike, to the physically disabled
and to victims of substance abuse. I mediated for families and counseled them,
dealing with real-life issues, including child abuse, family violence, and
addiction.”
It was while working in San Francisco that Elberta became acquainted with
the devastation of child abuse. She began to see firsthand the gulf between her
own experience built on a foundation of family support, encouragement, and
mutual respect, and the very different experiences of her clients, individuals
whose lives were tragically misdirected because of a lack of economic security,
family ties, or community support of any kind. Elberta realized that when a
family is at risk, its youngest members often suffer the most. As a foster home
placement counselor, she had to make many heartbreaking decisions with regard to
the living arrangements of her youngest clients.
“Taking a child out of his home, placing him in foster care, is one of
the toughest decisions a social worker must make. In making a foster care
placement, there is the risk of ultimately placing more stress on the
parent-child relationship—a relationship often already fragile because of
pressures within the home. But it’s crucial to remove a child from conditions
of abuse and neglect.”
“It is also important to remember that child abuse is symptomatic of
larger issues; parents who are having a difficult time coping with their
situation, who feel neglected themselves because of social and economic
pressures, will sometimes turn their rage and depression on their children.
That’s why it is important to treat the whole family, to try to better the
lives of all concerned.”
While working in San Francisco, Elberta married Nils Erik Eriksson on
July 30, 1966. After her marriage, she returned to school to study for a Masters
Degree in Social Work.
Elberta again took to the streets while attending graduate school. This
time, she fought in America’s war on racism and worked vigorously within the
Civil Rights Movement. Joining ranks with professors and colleagues, Elberta
protested the mass-killing of largely disadvantaged young men drafted for
military service in Viet Nam.
“I’d grown up in a very political family. I was taught that as a
political activist, it was important to lend my voice on behalf of those
disenfranchised in this society.”
Elberta and her colleagues spoke out on behalf of those young men without
the social status, sophistication, or economic resources to escape the draft
while their more privileged counterparts were able to take advantage of status
deferments, physical exemptions, or safe enlistments in order to avoid combat
duty in Viet Nam.
“The racial inequalities of the war became a major scandal. In the
average rifle company, fifty percent of those serving were of Black, Hispanic,
or Japanese-American descent.”
A survey at Notre Dame found that men from disadvantaged backgrounds were
about twice as likely as their more affluent peers to serve in the military, to
go to Viet Nam, and to see combat.
“They simply did not have the choices that wealthier young men had.”
When Elberta graduated, her career focus shifted to the local Marin
community in which she and Nils were raising their family. Two children, Maria
Jennifer and Erik Saros, were born to Elberta and Nils.
“I went to work at Mt. Tamalpais High School, providing individual and
group counseling, as well as training in communication and socialization skills.
My involvement at Mt. Tam was invaluable because it opened my eyes to the
immediate need for social services in the county, in my own backyard.”
One of the innovative programs Elberta participated in at the school was
called “On Location Education”—a project based on the premise that life
skills are best fostered outside of the traditional classroom setting. Students
were led into the hills of Marin where they learned to communicate effectively
with one another.
“The program’s multicultural sensitivity component was one of its
most compelling aspects. We had a varied group: a Chinese-American boy, a
Filipina, two African-American teens, one of whom lived in a Marin City foster
home, a student living in the Sausalito houseboat community, and a Bolinas
carpenter’s daughter. And they were required to live for an extended period of
time in one another’s homes. It was a truly remarkable and enormously
successful program; people still talk about it.”
Elberta’s work with the On Location Education program drew on her
training in the field of multicultural sensitivity.
“In a pluralistic society such as ours, with its many and diverse
cultural groups, we must approach each individual with awareness and
sensitivity. We must acknowledge the differences among various cultural groups
and between members within a given culture. This acknowledgement leads to a
greater understanding of the diversity of perspectives with regard to
interpretation of historical events, situations, and conflicts. The goal is
understanding, acceptance, and constructive relations among people of differing
backgrounds and experiences.”
Building on her successes with local high school students, Elberta
continued devoting her energy to social work and community activism. It wasn’t
long after going to work at Tam High that another community, Marin City,
enlisted her to work in its grassroots intervention program known as
Operation-Give-A-Damn (OGAD).
Begun at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church during a Sunday morning service,
OGAD was inspired by a beleaguered parishioner frustrated by the lack of
community services available to help her troubled teen-aged son.
The congregation responded to her plea for help by taking up a collection
to pay for a young mentor and role model willing to work with the teen in
crisis. Minister Don Schilling, Community Activist Iniece Bailey, and Special
Education Professor Dr. Phillip Kaplan met to design and implement OGAD services
for other deserving members of the community. Elberta Eriksson was recruited by
the fledgling organization, which was modeled on the same self-empowerment
theory she was so personally and professionally acquainted with.
Elberta and the board recruited a diverse group of mentors, including
individuals from many walks of life.
“We had a tremendous response. Everyone from those who’d turned their
own lives around after stints in Juvenile Hall to members of the Junior League
turned out to mentor these kids.”
For each child, a team was organized, consisting of the child, a parent
of the child, and a mentor. Each team met with the OGAD board regularly to
assess the effectiveness of the highly individualized intervention program,
making changes along the way as necessary.
“OGAD reflected what was a revolutionary movement in social services.
Traditionally, services had been dispersed to clients by social workers who
acted as decision-makers working with little input from the client or his
community. With organizations such as OGAD, intervention became a group effort;
the child, his family, the community at large, all worked together to decide
what was best for the child and where to seek help. It was truly empowering.”
Not satisfied with her overwhelmingly successful work at both Tam High
and Operation Give-A-Damn, Elberta took on yet another challenge in Marin when
the Family Services Agency asked her to provide mental health services to the
community.
“When FSA and I first began providing counseling and referral, there
were no mental health services available to the underprivileged of Marin County,
with the exception of those offered by the very few private organizations in
existence at the time.”
As director of the agency’s Multicultural Outreach Program, Elberta and
her staff worked to help residents of Marin City, Sausalito’s houseboat
community, and the central San Rafael canal district.
“The ‘mental health’ label kept many from seeking us out at first.
It was an uphill battle to convince residents that we had much to offer, but we
were determined to make a difference. In a time when mental health needs were
increasing so rapidly because of shifting governmental policies, these services
were essential. We could not sit by and watch so many people fall through the
cracks in the system.”
Over the course of a career that began in a pediatric ward when she was a
pre-schooler, Elberta has received numerous accolades acknowledging her work
with underprivileged and at-risk families. Both the State of California and the
Marin County Board of Supervisors have presented her with Child Abuse Prevention
Awards. Operation Give-A-Damn and the Family Services Agency have recognized her
many years of dedicated perseverance with service awards. But perhaps the
greatest testament to this energetic and determined professional is found in the
comments of family members, friends, former clients, and colleagues who
responded with such enthusiastic support to Elberta’s nomination for the Marin
Women’s Hall of Fame Award.
“As a licensed therapist, Elberta could enjoy a lucrative private
practice. But most of her work has been done through non-profit organizations
such as Family Services Agency and Operation Give-A-Damn,” writes Jeanine
Matheson. “For the women of Marin City, she is a powerful symbol of
possibility in the realm of education, career, family, and community
involvement. Guided by her conviction that she makes a difference, Elberta
continues to better people’s lives.”
Ethel Seiderman notes that “to make Marin a place where all can live
equally and fairly, persons of diverse backgrounds and perspectives need to be
at the table—and Elberta has always said ‘yes’ to being there.”
Elberta’s eldest daughter, Regina, adds that her mother has
“successfully demystified family therapy so that non-clinicians can help those
who struggle. She has persevered where others had given up.”
David Guggenhime of the Marin City Children’s Program calls Elberta a
pioneer in the field of multicultural awareness. “Elberta applied her insight
and dedication to the development of one of the very first training programs for
teachers, community agencies, professionals, and paraprofessionals. In so doing,
she paved the way for the establishment of state requirements for licensing
standards in the field. Thousands of people of all races have benefited directly
and indirectly from the so desperately needed work of Elberta Eriksson.”
Mr. Guggenhime went on to praise Elberta’s impressive career in
academics, including her work as a member of the faculty at Dominican University
in the Psychology Department where she specialized in cross-cultural counseling
psychology, as field placement supervisor for graduate students at U. C.
Berkeley and San Francisco State University, and as a member of the faculty at
California’s Graduate School of Psychology.
Continuing to come to the aid of those in need, Elberta Eriksson is on
yet another mission to bring services to the community of Marin City through the
organization known as ISOJI, named after a Nigerian Yoruba word meaning
“rebirth.” ISOJI board members meet weekly to build community in Marin City
through the co-sponsorship of summits involving residents, business leaders, and
community advocates for the purpose of planning activities and addressing
community problems. ISOJI sponsors cultural celebrations such as Black History
Month and Kwanzaa, facilitates meetings between service-providers and clients,
and acts as a liaison between the community and political officials.
“Again, the focus is on assessing the needs of Marin City within the
community,” explains Elberta, “with emphasis on building a partnership
between those with resources inside and those with resources outside of the
community. We are working to bring recreational, musical, and cultural programs
to Marin City.”
Elberta is encouraged by the fact that she sees more and more
interest in groups looking at diversity and multicultural program development.
She is also cautiously optimistic about issues such as the development of a
business community in Marin City.
“I am hopeful that those coming in to Marin City have the sensitivity
to appreciate the community’s own unique culture. I am hopeful that residents
and business leaders alike will recognize that their partnership is essential to
building a successful community of people who achieve results together.”
Elberta recognizes that individuals, especially the economically
disadvantaged and those subjected to racial discrimination, may feel they do not
have the resources to overcome obstacles, and points out that even those who
appear to have many advantages must sometimes face adversity.
“I was blessed in having been born into a loving and supportive family.
Notwithstanding my early good fortune, being an African American female has
presented its challenges,” says Elberta, who, as an undergraduate, was told
repeatedly that she was overqualified for jobs listed on the college bulletin
board at San Francisco State University. “I didn’t give up because I
realized that someone of color had to be there first, that getting that first
job in social work was not just a personal goal but a necessary step toward
bringing my brothers and sisters along with me. I was trailblazing!”
When asked by Reverend Jana Childers what advice she would give to young
women today, Elberta Eriksson responded, “Stay connected to family; support
each other, accept diversity. We’ve traveled our own paths, learned our own
lessons, and it’s essential that we learn to accept each other in spite of our
differences. If we are afraid for our personal survival, our interconnectedness
is threatened. Because the political climate, with regard to cultural
sensitivity, shifts with every change in administration, it is going to take the
human culture a long time to overcome prejudice and poverty. We will need the
energy and determination of all to go forward.”
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