
Who Created the Settlement Houses?
- First Settlement Houses. The first settlement house was Toynbee Hall in London, founded in 1883 by Samuel and Henrietta Barnett.
- Famous Settlement Houses. The best-known settlement house is perhaps Hull House in Chicago, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams with her friend Ellen Gates Starr.
- The Movement Spreads. ...
- More House Residents and Leaders. ...
Full Answer
What were settlement houses and who started them?
The settlement houses provided services such as daycare, English classes, and healthcare to improve the lives of the poor in these areas. The most famous settlement house of the time was Hull House, founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr . Toynbee Hall settlement house, founded 1884, pictured here in 1902
What is the purpose of a settlement house?
The main functions of a settlement are:
- Market town – where farmers will buy and sell their goods and materials.
- Mining town – where minerals and fuel might be extracted.
- Industrial town – where raw materials will be processed into manufactured products.
- Port – a place where goods can be imported and exported.
What was the settlement house and who started it?
The settlement house movement started in England in 1884 when Cannon Samuel A Barnett, Vicar of St. Jude’s Parrish, founded Toynbee Hall in East London. What was the purpose of the settlement houses? Settlement houses arose in the late 1800s and early 1900s as an attempt to make American society more just and fair. ”Settlement workers ...
Do you think settlement houses were successful?
do you think settlement house were successful? yes they were in the time that they were needed but then that turned into something bigger and even better Key terms for all three sections

Was the settlement house movement successful?
Settlement houses were successful in some ways but not in others. They failed to eliminate poverty and all of its causes, but they were able to all...
What did the settlement house movement do?
The settlement movement was part of a broader effort for social reform. House founders attempted to uplift the working class urban poor by exposing...
How did settlement houses work?
Settlement houses were housing projects designed to elevate the situation of the members of the poor working class. University students and other v...
What was the purpose of the settlement house?
The settlement house, an approach to social reform with roots in the late 19th century and the Progressive Movement, was a method for serving the poor in urban areas by living among them and serving them directly. As the residents of settlement houses learned effective methods of helping, they then worked to transfer long-term responsibility for the programs to government agencies. Settlement house workers, in their work to find more effective solutions to poverty and injustice, also pioneered the profession of social work. Philanthropists funded the settlement houses. Often, organizers like Jane Addams made their funding appeals to the wives of the wealthy businessmen. Through their connections, the women and men who ran the settlement houses were also able to influence political and economic reforms.
What did settlement houses serve?
Some settlement houses served whatever ethnic groups were in the area. Others, such as those directed towards African Americans or Jews, served groups that weren't always welcome in other community institutions.
What were the roots of the settlement house movement?
Community organizing and group work both have roots in the settlement house movement's ideas and practices. The settlement houses tended to be founded with secular goals, but many who were involved were religious progressives, often influenced by the social gospel ideals.
What were the names of the early settlement houses?
Other notable early settlement houses were the East Side House in 1891 in New York City, Boston's South End House in 1892, the University of Chicago Settlement and the Chicago Commons (both in Chicago in 1894), Hiram House in Cleveland in 1896, Hudson Guild in New York City in 1897, and Greenwich House in New York in 1902.
How many settlement houses were there in 1910?
By 1910, there were more than 400 settlement houses in more than 30 states in America. At the peak in the 1920s, there were almost 500 of these organizations. The United Neighborhood Houses of New York today encompasses 35 settlement houses in New York City.
When was the first settlement house built?
The first settlement house was Toynbee Hall in London, founded in 1883 by Samuel and Henrietta Barnett. This was followed by Oxford House in 1884, and others such as the Mansfield House Settlement.
Who made the funding appeals to the wives of the wealthy businessmen?
Often, organizers like Jane Addams made their funding appeals to the wives of the wealthy businessmen. Through their connections, the women and men who ran the settlement houses were also able to influence political and economic reforms.
When were settlement houses first established?
The first American settlement house, University Settlement, was established on New York 's Lower East Side in 1886. By 1910 more than four hundred settlement houses were operating across America's urban landscape. These settlements were actually experiments not in charity but in social organization. Historians consider settlement houses the first example of social services but emphasize a major difference: social services provide specific services, whereas settlement houses aimed to improve neighborhood life as a whole.
Who established the first settlement house?
The basic settlement-house ideal was to have wealthy people move into poor neighborhoods so that both groups could learn from one another. Canon Samuel Barnett, pastor of the poorest parish in London's notorious East End, established the first settlement house in 1884.
What were settlement house workers?
Settlement house workers were educated poor persons, both children and adults, who often engaged in social action on behalf of the community . In attaining their goals, the settlement house reformers had an enviable record.
How did settlement houses affect the lives of immigrants?
Although settlement houses failed to eliminate the worst aspects of poverty among new immigrants , they provided some measure of relief and hope to their neighborhoods. Nonetheless, historians have found that settlement house workers held a very condescending attitude toward immigrant populations, one that dismissed native cultures and sought to impose decidedly white middle-class values. Despite any such limitations, settlement house workers raised public awareness of pollution issues, especially in the areas of health, sanitation, and city services. They influenced politicians and forced them to consider issues of importance to immigrants. Finally and equally importantly, settlement house workers provided a legitimate venue for women to become active in city politics and other national issues, such as the burgeoning women's suffrage movement.
What are some examples of settlement houses?
Probably the best-known example is Chicago Commons, founded in 1894 by the Reverend Graham Taylor, who was the first professor of Christian sociology at the Chicago Theological Seminary. He founded Chicago Commons partially as a social laboratory for his students. As Allen F. Davis has pointed out, of the more than 400 settlements established by 1910, 167 (more than 40 percent) were identified as religious, 31 Methodist, 29 Episcopal, 24 Jewish, 22 Roman Catholic, 20 Presbyterian, 10 Congregational, and 31 unspecified. In 1930, there were approximately 460 settlement houses, and most of these were church supported.
How did the settlement house movement affect World War I?
World War I had an adverse effect on the settlement house movement. The settlement houses declined in importance and there seemed to be less need of them. Gradually organizations such as the Young Men's Christian Association, summer camps, neighborhood youth centers, and other local and national agencies were established to carry on similar work. The settlement house movement gradually broadened into a national federation of neighborhood centers. By the early twentieth century, settlement houses were beginning to cooperate with, and merge into, " social work ." The settlement house movement led the way to community organization and group work practice within the newly proclaimed profession of social work.
How many settlement houses were there in 1930?
In 1930, there were approximately 460 settlement houses, and most of these were church supported. Settlement houses were run in part by client groups. They emphasized social reform rather than relief or assistance. (Residence, research, and reform were the three Rs of the movement.)
How successful were settlement houses?
Settlement houses were successful in some ways but not in others. They failed to eliminate poverty and all of its causes, but they were able to alleviate some of them.
What was the settlement house movement?
What was the settlement house movement? The settlement house movement was a social movement that supported the idea of creating large housing projects to provide mobility for the working class. It grew out of a desire for reform that had already had effects in several other areas, such as the creation of numerous charities to help people in poverty. Widespread support for this idea began in Great Britain in the 1860s and quickly spread to other Western countries such as the United States and Canada. The Industrial Revolution and its social effects, such as long working hours, the safety hazards of the factory system, and the self-absorption of industrialists, alarmed the idealistic Christian Socialists who desired to help the poor rise above their condition through education and moral improvement.
How did settlement houses help the poor?
How did settlement houses help the poor? Settlement houses provided the environment for the poor tenants to create social clubs, community groups, and cultural events. This promoted fellowship between the residents. Education programs were also conducted under the auspices of the houses. For example, the kindergarten program initiated at Hull House served up to 24 students. Adults and youth attended lecture series from community leaders and university graduates and educators.
What was settlement work?
Settlement work was concerned with helping the poor as a social class rather than on an individual basis. It was theorized that if members of the poor working class lived in proximity to educated, refined people, their work morale and education status would improve as well. To aid this, half of the tenants of these houses were ''refined'' graduates of upper-class colleges who lived there to aid the working class by association. House organizers hoped that the sub-culture of higher education would elevate the paradigm of the poor and help them to rise out of their situation.
What did administrators of houses do?
Administrators of the houses and educators worked not only with the tenants of the houses but also with leaders of the community, including factory owners and politicians. Services offered included infant nurseries, job training, and medical care. Although the founders of the houses had high aspirations, many of the workers who had the most interaction with the working class were amateurs who could not have much effect.
What were some examples of settlement houses?
In Cleveland, Ohio, for example, different settlement houses served different immigrant populations. Hiram House, for example, mostly worked with Jews, Italian immigrants, and African Americans. East End Neighborhood House and Goodrich House served east European immigrants.
Who founded the first settlement house in Great Britain?
Samuel and Henrietta Barnett founded the first Settlement House, Toynbee Hall, in Great Britain.
What were the settlement houses in Cleveland?
SETTLEMENT HOUSES. Cleveland, along with Chicago, Boston, and New York , was one of the centers of the U.S. settlement-house movement. Local settlement work began in the late 1890s, and within a decade a half-dozen settlements operated in Cleveland neighborhoods. Several of the city's settlement houses achieved national recognition; for example, KARAMU HOUSE, one of the centers of African-American theater in the U.S., and the CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT, with its model music training programs. The settlement movement began in England in 1884 when a group of Oxford Univ. students established Toynbee Hall, a residence in a London slum. Sharing knowledge and skills with area residents, they strove to understand and solve urban problems. The urban village concept was foremost, attempting to replicate in city neighborhoods the network of mutual aid common to a small village. New York City's Neighborhood Guild (1885) and Jane Addams' Hull House (Chicago, 1888) marked the importation of settlement houses to the U.S.; over 100 existed in America by 1900. The settlement movement grew in response to the overcrowding, impoverishment, corruption, and disease caused by rapid industrialization and urbanization. One of the most enduring reform movements, it uniquely attempted to change problem neighborhoods from within.
What were the first settlements in Cleveland?
The first settlement house established in Cleveland was HIRAM HOUSE (1896). By WORLD WAR I, many other settlements served Cleveland neighborhoods. While Hiram House served JEWS (later ITALIANS and then AFRICAN AMERICANS) along lower Woodland Ave., ALTA HOUSE (1900) served the Italians of LITTLE ITALY. EAST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE (1907) worked with HUNGARIANS and SLOVAKS in the BUCKEYE-WOODLAND -Woodhill district, and Goodrich House (1897, see GOODRICH-GANNETT NEIGHBORHOOD CTR.) served South Slavic groups residing along St. Clair Ave. By the 1920s, other local settlements included the WEST SIDE COMMUNITY HOUSE (1922), MERRICK HOUSE (1919), the RAINEY INSTITUTE (1904), UNIV. SOCIAL SETTLEMENT (1922), the Playhouse Settlement (1915, later Karamu House), the Council Educational Alliance (1899, forerunner of the JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER ), the FRIENDLY INN (1897), and the Cleveland Music School Settlement (1912). The 1920s and 1930s saw tremendous nationwide changes in settlement operation, especially the hiring of trained social workers and the emphasis on a more scientific methodology and program. National and local organizations, such as the National Federation of Settlements (est. 1911), the Cleveland Settlement Union, and, later, the GREATER CLEVELAND NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS ASSN., fostered such change.
What are some examples of settlement houses?
Recent Examples on the Web As a child in the 1950s, Amelia Cooper lived in a multigenerational home in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood that often served as a settlement house for friends of her grandfather, the blues musician Muddy Waters.
Did African Americans benefit from settlement houses?
African Americans, too, benefited from settlement houses. — Andre M. Archie, National Review, 7 Nov. 2019 Richard’s parents met in 1905 at a Henry Street dance; Wald and Lehman attended their wedding, and Louis Abrons later became a major benefactor of the settlement house.
What is social settlement?
Full Article. Social settlement, also called settlement house, community centre, or neighbourhood house, a neighbourhood social welfare agency. The main purpose of a social settlement is the development and improvement of a neighbourhood or cluster of neighbourhoods.
When did the settlement movement start?
The settlement movement began with the founding of Toynbee Hall in London in 1884. Samuel Augustus Barnett, then vicar of St. Jude’s Parish, invited a number of university students to join him and his wife in “settling” in a deprived area of the city.
How does social settlement differ from other social agencies?
It differs from other social agencies in being concerned with neighbourhood life as a whole rather than with providing selected social services. The staff members of a social settlement work with individuals and families and with groups. They do informal counseling and home visiting.
When was the first international conference of settlement workers held?
The first international Conference of Settlement Workers, held in London in 1922, led to the organization in 1926 of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers (IFS). The IFS maintains consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Who was the educator who opened the college settlement in New York City?
In Chicago in 1889, Jane Addams bought a residence on the West Side that came to be known as Hull House. In that same year the educator Jane E. Robbins and Jean Fine (Mrs. Charles B. Spahr) opened the College Settlement in New York City.
Who was the pioneer of the settlement movement?
The pioneer of this movement was the vicar Samuel A. Barnett, who in 1884 with his wife and a number of university…
Who was the first person to establish the Andover House?
Two years later Robert A. Woods, another resident of Toynbee Hall, and William J. Tucker established Andover House, later called South End House, in Boston. The movement then spread to most countries of western Europe and to Southeast Asia and Japan.

First Settlement Houses
Famous Settlement Houses
- The best-known settlement house is perhaps Hull House in Chicago, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams with her friend Ellen Gates Starr. Lillian Wald and the Henry Street Settlement in New York is also well known. Both of these houses were staffed primarily by women and both resulted in many reforms with long-lasting effects and many programs that exist...
The Movement Spreads
- Other notable early settlement houses were the East Side House in 1891 in New York City, Boston's South End House in 1892, the University of Chicago Settlement and the Chicago Commons (both in Chicago in 1894), Hiram House in Cleveland in 1896, Hudson Guild in New York City in 1897, and Greenwich House in New York in 1902. By 1910, there were more than 40…
More House Residents and Leaders
- Edith Abbott, a pioneer in social work and social service administration, was a Hull House resident with her sister Grace Abbott, New Deal chief of the federal Children's Bureau.
- Emily Greene Balch, later a Nobel Peace Prize winner, worked in and for some time headed Boston's Denison House.
- George Bellamy founded Hiram House in Cleveland in 1896.
- Edith Abbott, a pioneer in social work and social service administration, was a Hull House resident with her sister Grace Abbott, New Deal chief of the federal Children's Bureau.
- Emily Greene Balch, later a Nobel Peace Prize winner, worked in and for some time headed Boston's Denison House.
- George Bellamy founded Hiram House in Cleveland in 1896.
- Sophonisba Breckinridge from Kentucky was another Hull House resident who went on to contribute to the field of professional social work.