Introduction

HW Headshot.jpeg

Photograph of Hubert Work, circa 1920-25

Among the many familiar political faces of the 1920s–like Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding, Albert Fall, and Herbert Hoover–was a quiet man named Hubert Work who served in several official capacities in the Republican party, perhaps most notably as Secretary of the Interior.  Work took on a department fraught with scandal, and although he was far from perfect himself, he made many improvements and important contributions.  

This site seeks to study Hubert Work’s rise in politics, his work at a national level, and his dealings with Native Americans.  As a relative of Work, this project holds personal interest and utilizes several primary sources from family members.  It concludes with an overview of the report Work commissioned to investigate the status of Native Americans in the United States near the end of his tenure as Secretary. 

Introduction