Settlement House
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The settlement movement was a
reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...
social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...
that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. 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, in which volunteer middle-class "settlement workers" would live, hoping to share knowledge and culture with, and alleviate the poverty of, their low-income neighbors. 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 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 ...
, founded by
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 ...
and
Ellen Starr Ellen Gates Starr (March 19, 1859 – February 10, 1940) was an American social reformer and activist. With Jane Addams, she founded Chicago's Hull House, an adult education center, in 1889; the settlement house expanded to 13 buildings in ...
.


History


United Kingdom

The movement started in 1884 with the founding of
Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affiliat ...
in
Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
, in the
East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
. These houses, radically different from those later examples in America, often offered food, shelter, and basic and
higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
, provided by virtue of charity on part of wealthy donors, the residents of the city, and (for education) scholars who volunteered their time. Victorian Britain, increasingly concerned with poverty, gave rise to the movement whereby those connected to universities settled students in slum areas to live and work alongside local people. Through their efforts settlement houses were established for education, savings, sports, and arts. Such institutions were often praised by religious representatives concerned with the lives of the poor, and criticised as normative or moralistic by radical social movements. There were basic commonalities in the movement. These institutions were more concerned with societal causes for poverty, especially the changes that came with industrialisation, rather than personal causes which their predecessors believed were the main reason for poverty. The settlement movement believed that social reform was best pursued and pushed for by private charities. The movement was oriented toward a more collectivist approach and was seen as a response to socialist challenges that confronted the British political economy and philanthropy. The British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres is a network of such organisations. Other early examples include
Browning Hall Browning Hall, properly The Robert Browning Settlement, was a social settlement established in Walworth, London, in 1895, one of a number of such 'settlements' arising out of the settlement movement and the university extension movement. It prov ...
, formed in
Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...
in 1895 by
Francis Herbert Stead Francis Herbert Stead (1857 – 14 January 1928), commonly cited as F. H. Stead, was a British social reformer notable for the establishment of Browning Hall in London, 1895, and for his work on the National Committee of Organised Labou ...
, and Mansfield House Settlement, also in east London (see
Percy Alden Sir Percy Alden (6 June 1865 – 30 June 1944) was a British social worker, land reformer and radical Liberal Party politician. Born in Oxford, he was the third son of Isaac Alden, a master butcher and Harriet ''née'' Kemp. After serving twice ...
). Oxford House in
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
was sponsored by
High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
Anglicans associated with
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. In
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, the
New College Settlement The New College Settlement was a student settlement based on the Pleasance in the Southside of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by students of New College in 1893, its work continued until 1952. New College was the ministerial training college for t ...
was founded in 1893, followed by the
Edinburgh University Settlement The Edinburgh University Settlement (EUS) was a multi-purpose voluntary organisation established by University of Edinburgh in 1905. The Edinburgh University Settlement was part of a larger settlement movement which began in Britain with the found ...
in 1905. Bristol University Settlement was founded by
Marian Pease Marian "May" Fry Pease (3 April 1859 – 25 September 1954) was a British schoolteacher. She was one of the first women to attend University College, Bristol where she would later lecture and become a doctor of letters. She and Hilda Cashmore fo ...
and
Hilda Cashmore Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. T ...
in 1911. There is also a global network, The International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers (IFS). The movement gave rise to many social policy initiatives and innovative ways of working to improve the conditions of the most excluded members of society. The Poor Man's Lawyer service came about because a barrister volunteered his time and encouraged his friends to do the same. In general, the settlement movement, and settlement houses in particular, "have been a foundation for social work practice in this country". As higher education opened up to women, young female graduates came into the settlement movement. The Women's University Settlement (now
Blackfriars Settlement Blackfriars Settlement charitable organization in the UK established to improve the well-being of disadvantaged people. It was originally established as the Women's University Settlement in 1887, and focused especially on the needs of women and c ...
) was founded in 1887 "by women from Girton and
Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicent ...
s at
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, Lady Margaret and
Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...
s at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
and
Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...
Universities".


Australia

Australia's first settlement activity was begun by the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
Women's Society. The Society was instigated by Helen Phillips when she was the first tutor of women students at the University of Sydney in 1891-1892. Before she took up that position, Phillips visited Cambridge and Oxford Universities in England to find out how they supported women students. She also visited her younger brother, William Inchbold Phillips, Priest in Charge, St John's College Mission (Lady Margaret Church)
Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...
where she learned more about the work of the college mission. The mission involved university students in charitable works and educating poorer people in the area in the settlement movement tradition. She took the model back to Australia and formed the Women's Society which focused on visiting patients in hospitals and setting up night schools particularly a night school for girls at Millers Point, North Sydney.Woolston, H. (1999) "Helen Plummer Phillips 1851-1929, Headmistress and Missionary". ''Church of England Historical Society Journal'', 44(3, September): 36-40Phillips, Helen P. and Mort, Eirene. and Cave & Co.  ''From Sydney to Delhi with Cook's coupons breaking the journey for a fortnight in Ceylon / by Helen P. Phillips ; illustrated by Messrs. Cave & Co., Colombo and Irene Mort, Sydney''  Industrial School Dodanduwa ri Lanka 1914 p63.Bygott, Ursula M. L. and Cable, K. J. and University of Sydney.  ''Pioneer women graduates of the University of Sydney 1881-1921 / by Ursula Bygott and K.J. Cable''  University of Sydney Sydney  1985 After Phillips left the university for missionary and education work in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) the founding principal of the new
Women's College Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
,
Louisa Macdonald Louisa Macdonald (10 December 1858 – 28 November 1949) was an educationist and women's suffragist. Early life and education Louisa Macdonald was born in 1858 in Arbroath, Scotland, the eleventh child of Ann (née Kid) and John Macdonald, to ...
developed settlement work further through the Women's Association. Over the years The Settlement gained the support of other partners and provided services for Aboriginal and migrant families and is now known as The Settlement Neighbourhood Centre in Darlington, Sydney New South Wales.


United States

The settlement movement model was introduced in the United States by
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 ...
after travelling to Europe and learning about the system in England. It was Addams who became the leading figure of the settlement movement in the United States with the help of like-minded personalities such as Mary Rozer Smith, Mary Keyser,
Alice Hamilton Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869Corn, JHamilton, Alice''American National Biography'' – September 22, 1970) was an American physician, research scientist, and author. She was a leading expert in the field of occupational health and a pioneer ...
,
Julia Lathrop Julia Clifford Lathrop (June 29, 1858 – April 15, 1932) was an American social reformer in the area of education, social policy, and children's welfare. As director of the United States Children's Bureau from 1912 to 1922, she was the first wo ...
,
Florence Kelley Florence Moltrop Kelley (September 12, 1859 – February 17, 1932) was a social and political reformer and the pioneer of the term wage abolitionism. Her work against sweatshops and for the minimum wage, eight-hour workdays, and children's rig ...
, and
Ella May Dunning Smith Ella May Dunning Smith (also known as Ella Mae Dunning Smith) (March 12, 1860 - September 28, 1934) was an American author, composer, pianist, and activist who was active in the settlement movement and served as the first female president of the O ...
, among others. 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. They came from Ireland, Russia, Italy and other European countries and provided cheap factory labor, a demand that was necessitated by the country's expansion into the west and rapid industrialization following the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. Many immigrants lived in crowded and disease-ridden tenements, worked long hours, and lived in poverty. Children often worked to help support the family.
Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...
wrote ''
How the Other Half Lives ''How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York'' (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis ...
'' in 1890 about the lives of immigrants on New York City's Lower East Side to bring greater awareness of the immigrant's living conditions. The most famous settlement house in the United States is
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
's
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 ...
, founded by Addams and
Ellen Gates Starr Ellen Gates Starr (March 19, 1859 – February 10, 1940) was an American social reformer and activist. With Jane Addams, she founded Chicago's Hull House, an adult education center, in 1889; the settlement house expanded to 13 buildings in ...
in 1889 after Addams visited Toynbee Hall within the previous two years. Hull House, unlike the charity and welfare efforts which preceded it, was not a religious-based organization. Instead of Christian ethic, Addams opted to ground her settlement on democratic ideals. It focused on providing education and recreational facilities for European immigrant women and children.
Katharine Coman Katharine Ellis Coman ( – ) was an American social activist and professor. She was based at the women-only Wellesley College, Massachusetts, where she created new courses in political economy, in line with her personal belief in social change ...
,
Vida Scudder Julia Vida Dutton Scudder (1861–1954) was an American educator, writer, and welfare activist in the social gospel movement. Early life She was born in Madurai, India, on December 15, 1861, the only child of David Coit Scudder (of the Scudder ...
, and
Katharine Lee Bates Katharine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859 – March 28, 1929) was an American author and poet, chiefly remembered for her anthem "America the Beautiful", but also for her many books and articles on social reform, on which she was a noted speaker. Bat ...
were among a group of women who founded Denison House in Boston in 1892.
Union Settlement Association Union Settlement is one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City, providing community-based services and programs that support the immigrant and low-income residents of East Harlem since 1895. It is East Harlem’s largest social service ...
, founded in 1894,
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Lenox Hill Neighborhood House (the “Neighborhood House”) is a multi-service community-based organization that serves people in need on the East Side of Manhattan and on Roosevelt Island. Founded in 1894 as a free kindergarten for the childre ...
, founded in 1894, Friendly Inn Settlement House, founded in 1894,
Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...
, founded in 1893,
Hiram House The Hiram House was the first settlement house in Cleveland and one of the first in the United States. It was founded in 1896 by George A. Bellamy and students from Hiram College. History Hiram House was founded by students from Hiram College who ...
, founded in 1896, Houchen House in El Paso Texas, founded in 1912 and
University Settlement House The University Settlement Society of New York is an American organization which provides educational and social services to immigrants and low-income families, located at 184 Eldridge Street (corner of Eldridge and Rivington Streets) on the Lowe ...
, founded in 1886 and the oldest in the United States, were, like Hull House, important institutions for social reform in America's teeming, immigrant-dominant urban communities. United Neighborhood Houses of New York is the federation of 38 settlement houses in New York City. These and other settlement houses inspired the establishment of
settlement school Settlement schools are social reform institutions established in rural Appalachia in the early 20th century with the purpose of educating mountain children and improving their isolated rural communities. Settlement schools have played an importan ...
s to serve isolated rural communities in
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
, such as the
Hindman Settlement School Hindman Settlement School is a settlement school located in Hindman, Kentucky in Knott County. Established in 1902, it was the first rural settlement school in America.
in 1902 and the
Pine Mountain Settlement School The Pine Mountain Settlement School is a historic cultural and educational institution in rural Harlan County, Kentucky. Founded in 1913 as a settlement school near Bledsoe, it now focuses on classes related to the culture of Appalachia and en ...
in 1913. A count of American settlements reported: 74 in 1897; 103 in 1900; 204 in 1905; and 413 by 1911 in 32 states. By the 1920s, the number of settlement houses in the country peaked at almost 500. The settlement house concept was continued by
Dorothy Day Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic without abandoning her social and anarchist activism. She was perhaps the best-known ...
's
Catholic Worker ''Catholic Worker'' is a newspaper published seven times a year by the flagship Catholic Worker community in New York City. The newspaper was started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin to make people aware of church teaching on social justice. His ...
"hospitality houses" in the 1930s. By 1993 the estimated number of houses dropped to 300 in 80 cities. The American settlement movement sprung out of the-then fashionable philosophy of " scientific philanthropy", a model of social reform that touted the transmission of "proper" .e.WASP) values, behavior, and morals to the working classes through charitable but also rigorously didactic programs as a cure to the cycle of poverty. Many settlement workers joined the movement out of a strong conviction that impactful social welfare programs were the only thing that could prevent the pernicious development in the United States of a European-style entrenched social class system.


Russia

The movement also spread to late imperial Russia, as Stanislav Shatsky and Alexander Zelenko set up a network of educational and social institutions in northern
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in 1905, naming it "Settlement" ("", the English word transliterated to Russian). This network of institutions was closed down by the government in 1908, due to alleged
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
activities.


Description

Today, settlements are still community-focused organizations, providing a range of services including early education, youth guidance and crime intervention, senior programs, and specialized programs for young people who have "aged out" of the foster care system. Since they are staffed by professional employees and students, they no longer require that employees live alongside those they serve.


Legacy and impact

Settlement houses influenced
urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban de ...
and
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
in the twentieth century. For example,
James Rossant James Stephan Rossant (August 17, 1928 – December 15, 2009) was an American architect, artist, and professor of architecture. A long-time Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he is best known for his master plan of ...
of Conklin + Rossant agreed with
Robert E. Simon Robert Edmund Simon, Jr. (April 10, 1914 – September 21, 2015) was an American real estate entrepreneur, most known for founding the community of Reston, Virginia. Original work: He was the maternal uncle of feminist historian and writer El ...
's social vision and consciously sought to mix economic backgrounds when drawing up the master plan for Reston, Virginia. The New Monastic movement has a similar goal and model.


See also

*
Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China between mid 1950s and 1978. As a result of what he perceived to ...
*
Gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
* List of active settlement houses * List of historical settlement houses *
Social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...
*
Sonoratown, Los Angeles Sonoratown was a neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California. Sonoratown was home to many immigrants from the northern Mexican state of Sonora in the mid 1800s. Many settled there after having made their way to northern California during the g ...
, for description of one of the houses


References


Further reading

* Berry, Margarent E
"The Settlement Movement 1886-1986: One Hundred Years on Urban Frontiers"
VCU Libraries Social Welfare History Project. * Blank, Barbara Trainin

''The New Social Worker'', Summer 1998, Vol. 5, No. 3 * Hunter, Robert. "The Relation Between Social Settlements and Charity Organization" ''Journal of Political Economy,'' vol. 11, no. 1 (Dec. 1902), pp. 75–88
In JSTOR
* Scotland, Nigel. "Squires in the Slums: Settlements and Missions in Late Victorian England", I. B. Tauris, London, 2007


External links


British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres (bassac) is now Locality

International Federation of Settlements website

United Neighborhood Houses (New York)
{{Urban Planning Social movements Social history of England History of education Progressive Era in the United States Social classes Social history of Canada Social history of Russia Reform Social care in England