In fact, Residence, Research, and Reform were the three “Rs” of settlement house work. 8 While acknowledging the worth of the individual, for the most part, settlement leaders targeted their reform efforts on the social environment of immigrant neighbor- hoods in the large industrial cities.
Not only did the settlement house provide hands-on training in social work, social science research, education, public policy, nursing, and medicine, it was also a space in which these women were actively defining the work and standards of these modern professions.
The main purpose of settlement houses was to help the poor by elevating their thoughts, actions, and knowledge. Student workers and other community members resided alongside the working class and tried to benefit the poor by associating with them, educating them, and discussing social issues with them.
Hull-House, Chicago's first social settlement was not only the private home of Jane Addams and other Hull-House residents, but also a place where immigrants of diverse communities gathered to learn, to eat, to debate, and to acquire the tools necessary to put down roots in their new country.
Though reformers originally founded settlement houses to aid immigrants, American-born working-class poor also benefited from the programs. The majority of houses were operated by Catholic and Protestant churches, or para-church organizations such as the YMCA and the Salvation Army.
Today, it is estimated that there are more than 900 settlement houses in the United States, according to UNCA, an association of 156 of them. Formerly known as the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, UNCA was actually founded in 1911 by Jane Addams and other pioneers of the settlement movement.
After The Hull House Association moved from the original buildings complex in the 1960s, it continued to provide social services in multiple locations throughout Chicago. It finally ceased operations in January 2012.
Settlement houses were organizations that provided support services to the urban poor and European immigrants, often including education, healthcare, childcare, and employment resources. Many settlement houses established during this period are still thriving today.
What were Jane Addams's beliefs? Addams believed that effective social reform required the more- and less-fortunate to get to know one another and also required research into the causes of poverty. She worked for protective legislation for children and women and advocated for labour reforms.
Hull House did a ton of good and still does – in fact it did most of its good by the simple fact that the educated middle class lived near the immigrant poor – and each learned something about the other.
The combination of her father's death and her failing health led to a deep depression that lasted almost six years. Jane believed she was a “failure in every sense” and struggled to find a purpose. She worried that her education was wasted, but her health was too fragile to return to school or take on work.
In 1907, Addams was a founding member of the National Child Labor Committee, which played a significant role in passage of a Federal Child Labor Law in 1916. Addams led an initiative to establish a School of Social Work at the University of Chicago, creating institutional support for a new profession for women.
The main goal of the settlement house movement was to provide relief and support for the working class, especially working-class women. Settlement houses like Hull House, established by Jane Addams in Chicago, provided services such as child daycare, evening classes, libraries, gym facilities, and free health care.
The three main types of settlement pattern are dispersed, nucleated and linear.
The first settlements in North America were: Vineland by the Vikings, St. Augustine by the Spanish, and Roanoke by the British.
Settlement houses were primarily run by women. Settlement houses were community centers that provided various services and support to immigrants and the urban poor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They aimed to address social issues and improve living conditions for those in need.
In the early years settlements and neighborhood houses were financed entirely by donations; and the residents usually paid for their own room and board. The American settlement movement diverged from the English model in several ways.
The settlement idea appealed to young Americans who wished to bridge the gulf of class, help the urban poor, implement “social Christianity,” and understand the causes of poverty.
Jane Addams Hull House suspended its operations Jan. 27, citing cuts in government funding and increased demands in services as reasons for closing. The 122-year-old organization provided foster care, domestic violence counseling, child development programs, and job training to 60,000 people each year.
Hull-House exists today as a social service agency, with locations around the city of Chicago. The University of Illinois at Chicago has preserved a small part of the buildings as a museum, after the University razed many of the original buildings of Hull-House.
Public Tours at Hull-House
FREE public tours on the history of the Hull-House settlement are offered on Tuesdays and Fridays at 2 pm. The tours are capped at 25 visitors; please keep group sizes to 5 visitors or less.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, settlement houses were “reform institutions,” often placed in immigrant neighborhoods to help alleviate poverty and provide social services, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago. In Chicago, Hull House is a well-known settlement house for immigrant women and children.
University Settlement began in 1886 as the Neighborhood Guild, and was the first settlement house created in the United States. Founded by reformers Stanton Coit and Charles B. Stover, University Settlement was started to provide resources for the predominantly immigrant residents on the Lower East Side.
Founded beginning in 1886, settlement houses served residents of impoverished urban neighborhoods, largely immigrants, by providing recreation, education, and medical and social service programs.