The California Social Welfare Archives hosted its annual awards luncheon on Oct. 21 at USC's Davidson Conference Center to honor philanthropists Ann Thor and Frances Wu for their lifelong commitment to improving social services.

While presenting Thor with the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Volunteer Services, CSWA President Esther Gillies said Thor "exemplifies what it means to give up one's self in the service of others."

For more than 50 years, Thor has served her community and dedicated herself to those less fortunate and in need. She said her volunteerism started when she was an assistant housemother for the Episcopal Church Home for Children in South Pasadena. Thor has been married to Richard Thor, a 1958 graduate and former assistant dean of the School of Social Work, for 51 years and credits him for her work.

"Being married to a wonderful social worker, I had no choice," she said. "(His work) made me want to serve."

Thor and her husband have been generous donors to the USC School of Social Work for years. In 2004, they endowed the Richard M. and Ann L. Thor Professor in Urban Social Development to create a lasting legacy of their friendship and support of the school.

Frances Wu was presented the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Professional Services. School of Social Work Dean Marilyn Flynn said Wu, the first Chinese-American to receive a doctoral degree in social work from USC in 1974, is "famous" for her advocacy work for the Chinese elderly but holds many titles including philanthropist and real estate developer.

Wu said although she has a degree in social work, all of her money was made as a developer.

"I didn't do anything in social work … but I made a lot of money and most of it goes to USC," she said. "It feels great."

Wu has personally endowed the Frances Wu Scholarship Fund in the School of Social Work, and the Frances Wu Chair in Social Welfare Policy and Services to the Chinese Elderly, the first chair named for a Chinese-American at USC, was endowed in her honor by the Chinese-American Golden Age Association.

Prior to the presentation of awards, Areta Crowell, former director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Services, gave the keynote address. She spoke about how Los Angeles County has dealt with mental health issues over the last 40 years and how services have evolved.

Crowell has been involved in California's mental health system for more than four decades, working in both the public policy and service delivery arenas. Despite its humble beginnings when prior to 1957 there were no locally administered and controlled community mental health programs in the state, Crowell said mental health services have come a long way.

"The outlook of the future of Los Angeles County public health services is definitely the best it has been in my lifetime," Crowell said.

She encouraged the audience, consisting mostly of those in the social work field, to stay involved and continue to be advocates for the advancement of social welfare.

"Your knowledge is so vital to making this all work," she said.

During the luncheon, there was also a short tribute to USC CSWA founder Frances Lomas Feldman, a pioneer in the field of social work and a USC faculty member for 36 years. She died Sept. 30 at the age of 95. A four-minute video was shown of Feldman being interviewed about her role in CSWA's development.

Established in 1979, the California Social Welfare Archives maintains one of the most extensive and complete collections of California social welfare history. The volunteer-based group of social workers, librarians, archivists and other community leaders collects, preserves and makes available historically significant information that documents the emergence of social problems and the development of social welfare answers in California. The organization conducts its activities under the auspices of the USC School of Social Work, with its collections housed in the university library's Department of Special Collections located in Doheny Memorial Library.