Gertrude Wilson (1895-1984) was considered a pioneer in the development of social-group work as a specialty within social work. After earning her PhD in 1920 at the University of Chicago, she taught high school for a couple of years before moving on to YWCA work. While she worked, she continued her education, enrolling first in Columbia University's Sociology Department and later in the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration, where she obtained an M.A. in 1938. Wilson's work with the YWCA began in 1922 as a secretary in Allentown, Pennsylvania, then continued in Buffalo, New York as program director. She then moved to Chicago where she served as the administrator for the Y's program for young women in industry. Her interests led her to become involved in the American Association for the Study of Group Work where the field of social-group work was just emerging. Beginning in 1935, Wilson headed the social-group work department of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work, where she remained for a dozen years, ultimately becoming Associate Dean. There she wrote and published the works for which she became well-known: Case Work and Group Work, and Social Group Work Practice-- co-authored with colleague and lifetime friend, Gladys Ryland.

In 1951, Wilson joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley as Professor and Director of Social Welfare Extension with the charge of developing a professional education program for the professionally untrained social worker. The Program allowed hundreds of untrained workers to obtain professional education and earn certificates; about a third of them continued their education and obtained professional degrees in graduate schools of social work. For her achievements, the California Social Workers Organization awarded Wilson its 1963 Annual Achievement Award, and the Council on Social Work Education granted her the prestigious Agnes Van Driel Award for unique and outstanding endeavor in professional social-work education. In addition to teaching social-group-work at Berkeley, Wilson lead workshops and guest-lectured at the Columbia, Smith, and Tulane Schools of Social Work. When she retired in 1963, Wilson moved to Pioneer in Amador County with lifelong friend Gladys Ryland. Ryland died in 1980; Gertrude Wilson died in 1984 after a five-year battle with cancer.