The theme of this conference was The Role and Functions of the Family in a Democracy. Emily Hartshorn Mudd was the local arrangements chair. Ernest Groves, who had already started "The Conference on Conservation of Marriage and the Family" five years before at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill joined NCFR and would become its third president. Many other organizations helped to sponsor this conference, including The Marriage Council, The Pennsylvania School of Social Work, Temple University, The Family Society, the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospitals, The Jewish Welfare Society, The Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic.

General session speakers included:

• Dr. Carl Zimmerman, Harvard University, The Family in Different Types of Societies: Totalitarian, Communist, and Democratic.
• Dr. Lawrence Frank, New York City, The Family as Cultural Agent,
• Dr. Max Rheinstein, University of Chicago law School, The Family, The State and the Law.

Seven Sub-sessions included:

1. The Economic Basis of Family Life chaired by William Hodson, Commissioner of Public Welfare, New York, City
2. Education for Marriage and Family Living Ernest Groves, University of North Carolina
3. Eugenics and the Family Frederick Osborn, American Eugenics Society
4. Marriage, Family Law and its Administration Harriet S. Daggett, Louisiana State University
5. Marriage and Family Counseling Mrs. Stuart Mudd, Marriage Council, Philadelphia
6. Marriage and Family Research Leonard S. Cottrell, Cornell University, NY
7. Youth and Its Problems