What Was The Goal Of The Settlement Movement

Settlement houses are a large part of social work history in both the United States and England. These houses have many different functions, but their main priority is to provide services to individuals, groups and communities in order to solve community problems. Some houses have a specific focus such as children, women, employment etc. Others are simply a resource in the community for everything from employment to education. These houses were so successful that many are still in operation today. The settlement movement began in the 1880s in both England the United States. This time period was where settlement houses got their momentum. The goal of the settlement movement was to bring the rich and poor of society together, in
order to live in a harmonious community. The idea was for those in the middle class to help their lower-income neighbors improve their lives. Services were provided in areas like child-care, education, health care, and employment. The idea of better-off members of society living at the houses with the poor was called the “settlement method” (Carson M. 1990). This way, it was more hands-on and volunteers were able to get first-hand experience of what the poor went through. England is credited with starting the settlement movement in the 19th century. The movement was a response to the growing unemployment and poverty facing society. It was religious leaders who responded to these conditions by establishing community centers that would address the needs of the poor. Workers were recruited to live at the centers and develop programs that would assist with unemployment and poverty. This idea of residency created a bond between the workers and those who attended the houses. Neighborliness became the norm in how settlement houses operated. The first settlement house in England was Toynbee Hall, which was established in 1885 in East London. Samuel Barnett, who was a Church of England curate, along with his wife Henrietta, established the house as a response to poor conditions that low-income residents were suffering. Their vision was to provide future leaders a place to see the reality of poverty. This way, they could take their experience and develop solutions in their leadership positions. Eventually, the settlement movement made its way to America. Pioneers such as Stanton Coit and Jane Addams founded two of the first settlement houses in the United States. Coit and Addams inspired many others to open their own settlement houses across the United States and the movement continued well into the 1930s. By 1890, there were over 400 settlement houses in the United States. Forty percent of these houses were in major cities like Boston, New York City, and Chicago because they were large industrial centers (Hansan J, 2011). Even most small cities had at least one settlement house that worked for social reform. Stanton Coit founded the Neighborhood Guild in 1886.
His building was on the lower East Side of New York, which was a large immigrant area. Coit’s Guild had two purposes. The first was based on the immediate needs of the community, which consisted of an educational and recreational approach. Secondly, the Guild focused on bringing about basic social reforms. Coit followed the settlement method and had his volunteers live in the slums along with the immigrants in need. This method moved away from the superiority that many charity workers felt and moved towards an attitude of neighborliness. Coit actually went a step further than just having the one house. He organized different “clubs” which would consist of about 100 families who lived on the same street or block. This network of clubs that was formed was able to raise awareness about social reforms. In 1891, the Neighborhood Guild reorganized into the University Settlement
Society. In 1889, Jane Addams, along with Ellen Starr, founded the Hull-House in Chicago. The Hull-House is perhaps the most well known settlement house in the United States. The original goal of the house was to provide education about art and literature. However, the needs of the house grew very quickly and it soon became a place for immigrants to take practical classes that would help them become integrated into American society. Classes included learning the English language and about the American government, cooking, sewing etc. The Hull-House was a residential house that included school for young children, a kitchen and much more. Residents paid rent, and were expected to contribute to the services that the house provided. Settlement houses were not free of racism.
Although European immigrants were seen as fit to join American society, African Americans were not. This view led to segregated settlement houses, some for white Europeans and others for African Americans. Settlement houses for African Americans were also set up as a response to the migration of blacks from the South to the North. The focus for these houses was helping African Americans in the labor force with finding employment and learning skills. Right here in Rhode Island, we have the John Hope Settlement House. John Hope was established in Providence in the late 1920s. The original name was the Crispus Attucks Association., but in 1937 the house was renamed after the late John Hope. Hope graduated from Brown University, was the first African American president of Morehouse College in Georgia, and was among the founders of the NAACP. The priority for this was to provide a community place for African Americans. Today, John Hope Settlement House is a haven for all members of the community regardless of race, age, or
gender. During the settlement movement, women held most of the leadership positions at the houses but were still excluded from leadership positions in business and government. About half of the major settlement houses in the United States were run by women, and were very successful. The Handbook of Settlements (Woods & Kennedy, 1911) gave the following numbers: 1,077 women residents versus 322 men, 5,718 women volunteers versus 1,594 men, and 216 women as head residents versus 85 men. These large number gaps show the influence of woman on settlement houses and social reform. In conclusion, settlement houses provided a basis for many social reform programs, which are still in existence today. The settlement movement occurred across the world as the need for social and community programs grew. The following quote really sums up the ideology of the movement: “Thus, we see six qualities distinguishing the settlement: it is a movement across class lines; it requires, as its name suggests, that people from a relatively privileged class attempt to live with people who are from disempowered classes; it asks that living be done in “a neighborly relation”; it expects that the privileged class persons will learn from their experiences; it suggests that learning may be both informal and systematic; it expects settlements residents to use what they learn to change society to effect a more just distribution of socially produced goods.” (Lengermann & Niebrugge-Brantley, pg 7).