Social services in Bloomington Normal were administered by volunteers, mostly women, who organized the earliest social services: Bloomington Benevolent Society and the Bureau of Associated Charities both instituted around the end of the 19th century. These later became the Bureau of Social Services and then Family Service of McLean County.

This collection spans 1900 to 1968 and contains records from Bloomington Benevolent Society, the Bureau of Associated Charities, Bureau of Social Services and Family Service of McLean County.