The settlement house, an approach to social reform with roots in the late 19th century and the Progressive Movement
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States that spanned the 1890s to the 1920s. The main objectives of the Progressive movement were eliminating problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption. The movement primarily targeted political machines and their bosses. By taking down these corrupt re…
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 settlement house movement?
The Settlement House Movement. by John E. Hansan, Ph.D. One of the most influential organizations in the history of American social welfare was the “settlement house.”. The establishment and expansion of social settlements and neighborhood houses in the United States corresponded closely with the Progressive Era, the struggle for woman suffrage, ...
What was the first feature of the settlement movement?
A distinctive feature of the early years of the settlement movement was “residency .” By design, staff and volunteers lived communally in the same house or building, sharing meals and facilities, working together and spending some or all of their leisure time together. This arrangement fostered an exciting environment in which university-educated and socially motivated men and women enjoyed the opportunity to share their knowledge, life experiences, ideas and plans for the future. Working and living together, even for short periods, the residents of a settlement house bonded around specific projects, collaborated on social issues, formed close friendships and experienced lasting impressions they carried with them for a lifetime.
How did settlements help the world?
It is important to note that settlements helped create and foster many new organizations and social welfare programs, some of which continue to the present time. Settlements were action oriented and new programs and services were added as needs were discovered; settlement workers tried to find, not be, the solution for social and environmental deficits affecting their neighbors. In the process, some settlements became engaged in issues such as housing reform, factory safety, labor organizing, protecting children, opening health clinics, legal aid programs, consumer protection, milk pasteurization initiatives and well-baby clinics. Others created parks and playgrounds or emphasized the arts by establishing theaters and classes for the fine arts and music education. A number of settlement leaders and residents conducted research, prepared statistical studies, wrote reports or described their personal experiences in memoirs (e.g., Hull-House Maps and Papers, Robert Woods’s City Wilderness, Jane Addams’s Twenty Years at Hull-House, and Lillian Wald’s House on Henry Street).
What did Hull House do for Black people?
Although Hull-House and other settlements helped establish separate institutions for Black neighborhoods , pioneered in studying Black urban communities, and helped organize the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Blacks were not welcome at the major settlements.
What actually happened to the residents of settlements?
What actually happened was that residents of settlements learned as much or more from their neighbors than they taught them. The “settlers” found themselves designing and organizing activities to meet the needs of the residents of the neighborhoods in which they were living.
How were settlements organized?
Settlements were organized initially to be “friendly and open households,” a place where members of the privileged class could live and work as pioneers or “settlers” in poor areas of a city where social and environmental problems were great. Settlements had no set program or method of work. The idea was that university students and others would make a commitment to “reside” in the settlement house in order to “know intimately” their neighbors. The primary goal for many of the early settlement residents was to conduct sociological observation and research. For others it was the opportunity to share their education and/or Christian values as a means of helping the poor and disinherited to overcome their personal handicaps.
How did the American settlement movement differ from the English model?
The American settlement movement diverged from the English model in several ways. More women became leaders in the American movement; and there was a greater interest in social research and reform. But probably the biggest difference was that American settlements were located in overcrowded slum neighborhoods filled with recent immigrants. Working with the inhabitants of these neighborhoods, settlement workers became caught up in searching for ways to ease their neighbor’s adjustment and integration into a new society. Settlement house residents often acted as advocates on behalf of immigrants and their neighborhoods; and, in various areas, they organized English classes and immigrant protective associations, established “penny banks” and sponsored festivals and pageants designed to value and preserve the heritage of immigrants.
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 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 is a neighborhood center?
The term "neighborhood center" (or in British English, neighbourhood centre) is often used today for similar institutions, as the early tradition of "residents" settling in the neighborhood has given way to professionalized social work. Some settlement houses served whatever ethnic groups were in the area.
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.
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.
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.
What was the settlement movement?
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in England and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and social interconnectedness. Its main object was the establishment of "settlement houses" in poor urban areas, ...
Why did American settlement houses exist?
American settlement houses functioned on a philosophy of " scientific philanthropy ", a belief that instead of giving direct relief, charities should give resources to the poor so they could break out of the circle of poverty. American charity workers feared that the deeply entrenched social class system in Europe would develop in the United States.
What is the most famous settlement house in the United States?
The most famous settlement house in the United States is Chicago 's Hull House, founded by Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 after Addams visited Toynbee Hall within the previous two years. Hull House, though, was not a religious-based organization.
What was the British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres?
The British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres is a network of such organisations.
How many settlements were there in 1913?
By 1913, there were 413 settlements in 32 states.
What was the purpose of the Victorian settlement houses?
Through their efforts settlement houses were established for education, savings, sports, and arts.
How many people were in the settlement movement?
The settlement movement became popular due to the socio-economic situation in the United States between 1890 and 1910, when more than 12 million European people immigrated to the country.
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 today.
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 4…
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.
