University of Chicago Settlement

Last updated March 06, 2023

University of Chicago Settlement was a settlement of the University of Chicago. It was established January, 1894, by the Philanthropic Committee of the Christian Union of the University of Chicago. Initially, two graduate students (William Johnson and Max West) were in residence "to provide a center for educational, religious and philanthropic work." Mary McDowell became head resident September 15, 1894.^[1]

Located at 4630 Gross Avenue (1905-), its former locations included 4655 Gross Avenue, 1894-1869; and 4638 Ashland Avenue, 1896–1905.^[1] The locale was the "back of the yards” —- the Union Stock Yards. There, McDowell and 26 other residents conducted civic work, in which they were assisted by students, alumni, and members of the school faculties. These and all members of the university supported the settlement children's yell:— "One, two, three! Who are we? We are the members of the Universitee!"^[2]

History

The University of Chicago Settlement incorporated in 1898. It was maintained by subscriptions collected by the University Settlement Board, assisted by the Women's University Settlement League, by collections from the Sunday service of the University of Chicago, by private contributions, and by settlement clubs.^[1]

A meeting was held by the Christian Union on one of the Sunday evenings in December, 1893, for the purpose of raising funds, at which addresses were made by Professor James Laurence Laughlin and Jane Addams. Five rooms were rented January 1, 1894, and the work began. There were five residents from the University the first year, and ten other workers, students and professors. McDowell was one of the residents the first year, 1894; became the very efficient Head Resident, and was still guiding the work of the Settlement at the close of the University's first quarter-century. McDowell's name appeared regularly in the list of the Staff of Administration and Instruction and in 1903, she was made a special instructor in Sociology.^[3]

Soon after the beginning of the work, a Settlement Board was organized, property was secured, and a building finally erected. In 1916, this property, at 4630 Gross Avenue, was valued at about US$50,000. The activities of the Settlement for the welfare and happiness of the community were many. From the first, the University interest in the work not only continued, but increased. The collections of the Sunday religious service were devoted to its use. One Sunday in each year was Settlement Sunday, when a special appeal was made for unusual offerings. A University Settlement League of Women was formed to assist in its maintenance. Concerts, dramatic performances, dances were given every year to secure funds for it. Students and professors were helpers of McDowell on the field. Outside friends contributed money and personal service, and the University of Chicago Settlement prospered and performed a constantly growing service for a great community.^[3]

The settlement stood in the community as a "Neighborhood House", a social meeting-place, where the families became known to each other, and were associated together for the good of the whole neighborhood. A nearly, if not quite unique feature of this settlement was the neighborhood Council of ten, made up of neighborhood men and women, who conferred with the managers of the settlement concerning its work and the formulation of its policy.^[4]

Neighborhood

The neighborhood was in the southwest corner of that square mile, which included the Union Stock Yards and the packing houses, where each day 100,000 animals were slaughtered for the world's market. The physical appearance was that of a frontier prairie town, the dwelling houses being mostly of wood. A little cottage was perhaps purchased on monthly payments and often rented to from three to six families with boarders. Later, it is moved to the rear of the lot and a two-story frame tenement with an attic is built on the front of the lot. The landlord, the owner of the original cottage, may continue to live in it.^[1]

When the settlement was established, only a few of the streets were paved, there was no sewer connection with the houses, streets were lighted by lamps, the ditches were covered with a green scum from standing water, transportation was by horse cars, and the sidewalks were of wood.^[1]

Between 1909-11, concrete sidewalks were made, some of the streets were paved, most of the houses had sewer connection, the cars were run by electricity, and a few streets had electric lights. Two large banks were built on the corner of 47th Street and Ashland Avenue, and several large department stores were opened. New industries were coming into the community, such as a large foundry and other manufactories. There were still many streets unpaved, many ditches with green scum, while the city garbage dump continued to exist there. The old Irish, Scotch and English neighbors were supplanted by the Bohemian, Pole, Slovac, Lithuanian, Gallician, Croatian, and Slovenian.^[1]

This was an industrial community, not a slum, and the standard of life was influenced by the work and wages in the yards. There was a saloon for about every 23 voters. The saloon was the most hospitable place in the community to the non-English speaking people. One Slovac saloon had all the Slovac papers. The intelligent saloon keeper was the friend and counsellor of his people. They met in the back of his saloon as they would in a club house. The only place near the Stock Yards which offered a comfortable seat at a table during the lunch hour was the saloon, which was crowded at the noon half-hour. It was also the political as well as the social center, and the saloon keeper, with the ward politician, was often the only interpreter of American institutions.^[1]

Activities

Activities included many informal studies of particular phases of neighborhood life, mostly for some immediate use. There were efforts to better district conditions. These included housing, streets and refuse, play spaces, public schools, labor, economic conditions, moral, and health. Local institutional improvements included starting the first public library service in the quarter, and later, the settlement housed a branch of the public library, which had become a part of the Park Center equipment. The settlement also secured a public park and a public bath, largely through the efforts of its Woman's Club. Residents are represented on many national, state and local bodies. They gave their services constantly in general social educational work, and in presenting phases of the industrial and social needs of its neighborhood.^[1]

The settlement maintained a library; kindergarten; resident nurse; probation officer; social work in the Hamline School; school of citizenship; and neighborhood parties (Poles, Slovaks, Bohemians, Finns). There were lectures and opportunity for meeting of independent organizations. Other activities included classes in gymnastics, manual training, natural science, metal work, cooking, sewing, music (piano, chorus, orchestra), dancing. There were many clubs of women, young men and women, and children, with athletic, literary, social and other interests. The Park Centers freed the settlement for special social and educational work with foreigners, and for clubs with special interests not yet supplied by public enterprise.^[1]

In the summer, there was a medical and nursing service; summer tent for sick babies; playground for kindergarten children; excursions and picnics; and vacations in co-operation with Fresh Air agencies.^[1]

Young Citizen's Creed

"We believe that God hath made of one blood all nations of men, and that we are His children, brothers and sisters all. We are citizens of the United States, and believe our Flag stands for self-sacrifice for the good of all the people. We want to be true citizens of this our city, and therefore will show our love for her by our works. Chicago does not ask us to die for her welfare; she asks us to live for her good, so to live and so to act that her government may be pure, her officers honest, and every home within her boundaries be a place fit to grow the best kind of men and women to rule over her.”—Young Citizen's Creed, by Mary E. McDowell.^[1]

Residents

In 1911, there were 21 women residents and 5 men. McDowell was Head Resident since 1894.^[1]

Related Research Articles

Laura Jane Addams was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage in the United States. Addams co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses, providing extensive social services to poor, largely immigrant families. In 1910, Addams was awarded an honorary master of arts degree from Yale University, becoming the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the school. In 1920, she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House opened to serve recently arrived European immigrants. By 1911, Hull House had expanded to 13 buildings. In 1912 the Hull House complex was completed with the addition of a summer camp, the Bowen Country Club. With its innovative social, educational, and artistic programs, Hull House became the standard bearer for the movement that had grown nationally, by 1920, to almost 500 settlement houses.

Rogers Park is the first of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located 9 miles (14 km) from the Loop, it is on the city's far north side on the shore of Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is commonly known for its cultural diversity, lush green public spaces, early 20th century architecture, live theater, unique bars/restaurants, beaches, and progressive mindset. It is bounded by the city of Evanston along Juneway Terrace and Howard Street to the north, Ridge Boulevard to the west, Devon Avenue and the Edgewater neighborhood to the south, and Lake Michigan to the east. The neighborhood just to the west, West Ridge, was part of Rogers Park until the 1890s and is still commonly referred to as West Rogers Park.

Riverdale is one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago, Illinois and is located on the city's far south side.

Madeline (Madge) McDowell Breckinridge was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement in Kentucky. She married Desha Breckinridge, editor of the Lexington Herald, which advocated women's rights, and she lived to see the women of Kentucky vote for the first time in the presidential election of 1920. She also initiated progressive reforms for compulsory school attendance and child labor. She founded many civic organizations, notably the Kentucky Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis, an affliction from which she had personally suffered. She led efforts to implement model schools for children and adults, parks and recreation facilities, and manual training programs.

The Bright Promises Foundation is a nonprofit organization providing services to disadvantaged children in Illinois

Chicago Commons, known since 1954 as the Chicago Commons Association, is a social service organization and former settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Originally located on the near Northwest Side and now headquartered in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, it serves underresourced communities throughout the city.

Mary Eliza McDowell was an American social reformer and prominent figure in the Chicago Settlement movement.

The College Settlements Association (CSA) was an American organization founded during the settlement movement era which provided support and control of college settlements for women. Organized February 1890, it was incorporated on January 5, 1894. The settlement houses were established by college women, were controlled by college women, and had a majority of college women as residents. The CSA was devised to unite college women in the trend of a modern movement, to touch them with a common sympathy, and to inspire them with a common ideal. It was believed that young students should be quickened in their years of vague aspiration and purely speculative energy by possessing a share in this broad practical work.

Settlement and community houses in the United States were a vital part of the settlement movement, a progressive social movement that began in the mid-19th century in London with the intention of improving the quality of life in poor urban areas through education initiatives, food and shelter provisions, and assimilation and naturalization assistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivington Street Settlement</span>

Rivington Street Settlement was an American settlement house which provided educational and social services on the Lower East Side of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. Under the auspices of the College Settlements Association (CSA), it focused on the mostly immigrant population of the neighborhood. Originally located at 95 Rivington Street (1889-), other locations later included 96 Rivington Street (1892-1901), 188 Ludlow Street (1902–), 84-86 First Street (1907-), and Summer Home, Mount Ivy, New York (1900-). The Rivington Street Settlement was established by college women, was controlled by college women, and had a majority of college women as residents. The Rivington Street Settlement was a kind of graduate school in economics and sociology, with practical lessons in a tenement–house district - a kind of sociological laboratory.

College Settlement of Philadelphia is an American outdoor camp and school located in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Established in 1892, it was originally associated with the settlement movement under the auspices of the College Settlements Association (CSA) to provide educational and social services in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focusing on the mostly immigrant population of the neighborhood it served, and providing a home to the children and young people of the neighborhood.

Casa de Castelar was an American settlement in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in February 1894, during the settlement movement era, by a local branch of the College Settlements Association called the Los Angeles Settlement Association (LASA). Casa de Castelar was the first settlement house in the city, and the first settlement house west of the Mississippi River.

Goodrich Social Settlement was the second settlement house in Cleveland, Ohio, after Hiram House. It organized on December 9, 1896, incorporated May 15, 1897, and opened May 20, 1897 at Bond St. and St. Clair Ave. It was established by Flora Stone Mather as an outgrowth of a boys' club and women's guild conducted by the First Presbyterian Church. Its aims were “to provide a center for such activities as are commonly associated with Christian social settlement work". It was maintained by an endowment. The Goodrich House Farm, in Euclid Point, Ohio, was part of the settlement.

Neighborhood House was an American settlement house in Chicago, Illinois. It was opened in October 1896, by Samuel S. and Harriet M. Van Der Vaart, under the auspices of the Young People's Society of the Universalist Church, of Englewood, Chicago, and with the assistance of teachers of the Perkins, Bass, and D. S. Wentworth public schools. It was officially established in the Fall of 1897 by Harriet Van Der Vaart as the outgrowth of the kindergarten opened the year before "to bring together for mutual benefit people of different classes and conditions."

Neighborhood House is an American community center located in Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1896, as North Broadway Social Settlement it was renamed Neighborhood House in 1902, when it incorporated.

Whittier House was an American social settlement, situated in the midst of the densely populated Paulus Hook district of Jersey City, New Jersey. Christian, but non-denominational, its aims were to help all in need by improving their circumstances, by inspiring them with new motives and higher ideals, and by making them better fitted by the responsibilities and privileges of life. It cooperated with all who were seeking to ameliorate the human condition and improve the social order. It opened in the People's Palace, December 20, 1893. On May 14, 1894, it incorporated and moved to 174 Grand Street.

Lawrence House was an American social settlement in Baltimore, Maryland. Its beginnings were in 1893, when Rev. Dr. Edward A. Lawrence and a friend took up lodging at 214 Parkin Street. Lawrence died suddenly later in 1893, and in his memory, the Lawrence Memorial Association organized in 1894 and purchased a house at 816 West Lombard Street. The settlement incorporated in the Fall of 1900. In 1904, the place was enlarged by the addition of the adjoining house, 814 West Lombard Street.

South Park Settlement was an American settlement movement-era settlement established in the South Park neighborhood of San Francisco, California on January 2, 1895, by the San Francisco Settlement Association. It was founded in one of the crowded districts of San Francisco. The pretty little oval park on which the Settlement House faces was formerly the fashionable residence district of the city. But within a few blocks on either side of South Park were many little streets, whose crowded tenements furnished homes for less prosperous working people. Its goals were to establish and maintain a settlement in San Francisco as a residence for persons interested in the social and moral condition of its neighborhood; to bring into friendly and helpful relations with one another the people of the neighborhood in which the settlement was situated; to cooperate with church, educational, charitable and labor organizations, and with other agencies acting for the improvement of social conditions; to serve as a medium among the different social elements of the city for bringing about a more intelligent and systematic understanding of their mutual obligations; as well as to do social and educational work in the neighborhood; co-operate in the civic work of the city; and investigate social and economic conditions.

Amity Church Settlement was an American settlement house founded in 1896 and auxiliary to Amity Baptist Church. It was located at 314 West 54th Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. Its purpose included the religious and social well-being of the neighborhood. Services included educational classes, lectures, and poor relief. The director was Rev. Leighton Williams, Pastor. The undenominational spirit and able management of the House attracted confidence and financial assistance from outside Baptist lines. Its basal function was that of establishing residence in the crowded neighborhood where its work lay and bringing to bear upon the labor in hand the influence of the home. It sought to unite the idea of the Church and of the social settlement. The settlement was unincorporated, and was maintained by Amity Baptist Church and by voluntary contributions. The work was classified as (1) religious, including the various church services; (2) educational, including kindergarten, industrial school, evening classes, public lectures under the board of education; (3) medical, including dispensary and nursing work; (4) social, including Workingmen's Institute, social clubs and entertainments; (5) relief work; and (6) neighborhood work, including visitation and all work outside of the building, as well as promotion of neighborhood interests.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Woods, Robert Archey; Kennedy, Albert Joseph (1911). Handbook of Settlements (Public domain ed.). Charities Publication Committee. pp. 69–72. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
↑ University of Chicago; Robertson, David Allan (1916). The University of Chicago: An Official Guide (Public domain ed.). University of Chicago Press. p. 123. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
1 2 Goodspeed, Thomas Wakefield (1916). A History of the University of Chicago (Public domain ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 447–48. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
↑ Gavit, John Palmer (1897). Bibliography of College, Social and Universety Settlements (Public domain ed.). Co-operative Press. p. 21. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

External links

The University of Chicago Settlement, via Virginia Commonwealth University, Social Welfare History Project
Guide to the University of Chicago Settlement Records 1897-1977, via University of Chicago
Photo, via Chicago Historical Society

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[WoodsKennedy-1911-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Woods, Robert Archey; Kennedy, Albert Joseph (1911). Handbook of Settlements (Public domain ed.). Charities Publication Committee. pp. 69–72. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[TheUniversity-1916-2] University of Chicago; Robertson, David Allan (1916). The University of Chicago: An Official Guide (Public domain ed.). University of Chicago Press. p. 123. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[Goodspeed-1916-3] 1 2 Goodspeed, Thomas Wakefield (1916). A History of the University of Chicago (Public domain ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 447–48. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[Gavit-1897-4] Gavit, John Palmer (1897). Bibliography of College, Social and Universety Settlements (Public domain ed.). Co-operative Press. p. 21. Retrieved 24 April 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]