Hull House

Urban experiences in Chicago are explained very well throughout the readings from the Hull House articles. They give real world insight to what the time was like back then. The Hull House was founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 and was the most famous Settlement House in the United States. The first section that I chose to read was the “Beginnings of Settlement Life In Chicago” and the area of The Experiment in Chicago. Making the Hull House available to those who were not fortunate was a great idea to create and also it was a great opportunity for those who were “restrained from “doing good”, from being allowed a “proper outlet for their faculties” to be able to put their knowledge to work. The article I also chose to read was by Alice Miller “Hull-House,” The Charities. I found this article extremely interesting it gave me a lot of insight on to what life what back then in 1892. The Hull-House reminds me of a community center they have nowadays and I think it was a great idea to have these opportunities for people to go to. When reading the first paragraph of this article it was very powerful, my favorite quote was “To help the poor, one must understand them. To understand them, one must live among them. The rich need what the poor can give, as much as the poor need the gifts of the rich” (Miller). This quote in my opinion shows what social welfare is really about. Those who are not as fortunate as others one must understand how they live that way and why, and those who have money can always benefit and learn from those who aren’t as fortunate. I really loved how this article also showed all the positive things the Hull-House had. There were many activities for those to participate in whether it was cooking classes, educational classes, or just art galleries. It was a place to unite the rich and the poor. It was also a place for girls and women to be able to participate in activities instead of just doing housework. To some social welfare is a bad thing but to other social welfare is just “organized activites” and that is exactly what they Hull-House was there for. Also I liked learning that the Hull-House was a place that was open to all nationalities and not one certain one was discriminated. This entire article really showed how the Hull-House was like a small community that helped all of those around it feel connected and united. This article really shed light on the positivity the Hull-House brought to Chicago and the positivity of social welfare.

The second section that I chose to write about was “The Influence of Toynbee Hall and the People’s Palace”. What stood out to me in the article was when he states “I am afraid that it is long before we can expect the rich and poor again to live as neighbors; for good or evil they have been divided, and other means must, for present, be found for making common the property of knowledge”. This quote really stands out to me and kind of catches me off guard because in some of the other articles it shows how the rich and poor can live together and participate in activities. I think that is basically what the Hull House was for. Another quote that also stands out to me is “The poor need more than food: they need the knowledge, the character, the happiness which is the gift of God to this age”. This quote is very true with the fact of social welfare. This is because the whole purpose of the Hull House is to help the poor in more ways than just giving them money. It is to help them become their better self and help them participate in activities. I think those things are important because it helps bring together the rich and the poor with all the activities they can participate in at the Hull House. In regards to the set up of the Hull House it is key that those who are rich and those who are poor are able to mix and mingle without the worry of being judged by the other. I think if the Hull House wasn’t around during those times it would have been extremely difficult for the poor and the rich to intermingle and get along. I definitely think in this day and age that many people always get the negative connotation of social welfare, but if it was put into the context of how it is explained here some people would not be ashamed for being on welfare.