The Beulah Brinton House is a historically and architecturally significant house at 2590 S. Superior Street in the Bay View neighborhood of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, United States.

History

Beulah Brinton was an admired and important figure in Bay View's early history. In the 1870s new immigrant workers (primarily from

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, and

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) flocked to Bay View to work at the Bay View Rolling Mill. As recent immigrants, they usually did not speak

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, sometimes needed medical assistance, and were homesick and in need of recreation and a community. Brinton welcomed the workers and their families into her home, where she taught them how to read, sew, and perform other valuable skills. In Milwaukee, Brinton organized neighbors’ relief efforts after the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

of October 1871 and sought in 1886 to reconcile all parties in the wake of May’s National Guard shootings of a group agitating for the 8-hour workday.“Social Center Honors Woman,” Milwaukee Journal, August 3, 1924, p. 48.Gurda, John. “Brinton: still a role model years later,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 7, 2012, p. 74. To introduce Bay View residents to

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, she built a tennis court in her side yard so they could learn and play the sport, which was relatively new to the United States. She kept tennis rackets in a box on her back porch so they were readily available. Brinton encouraged theater, and often played the piano so that couples could dance. Her collection of over 300 books became the first library in Bay View. What Brinton did with her home was similar to the efforts

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) 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 ...

put into the more renowned

Hull House 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 (named after the original house's first owner Cha ...

(though Beulah Brinton house activities pre-date the

). When a neighborhood community center opened in 1924 in a former firehouse on Saint Clair Street, it was considered a direct continuation of her home service and named for her. Brinton came from Chicago to speak at its dedication; a proclamation for the event and a portrait of Brinton grace the lobby of a newer Beulah Brinton Center on Bay Street. Beulah returned to her old home in 1926 to live with the family of her granddaughter Mabel Pickard and Ray Estes and died there in 1928. The Brinton house now serves as headquarters of the Bay View Historical Society.Kursch, Daisy Estes. “Beulah Brinton of Bay View,” Milwaukee History, vol. 10, no. 2 (1987): p. 38-46.

Today

The Beulah Brinton House is the headquarters for the Bay View Historical Society. It is frequently used in Society functions. The Bay View Historical Society Archives are upstairs, and are available for viewing during the afternoon of every third Saturday of the month. The Beulah Brinton house contains an archive of antiques in the home, including dresses, hats, photos, and paintings from the 1870s.

References

External links

Beulah Brinton House Interim Historic Designation Study Report

Bay View Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinton, Beulah, House Houses in Milwaukee History of Milwaukee Houses completed in 1871 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Organizations based in Milwaukee Historic district contributing properties in Wisconsin History museums in Wisconsin Museums in Milwaukee National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee 1870 establishments in Wisconsin Bay View, Milwaukee