Fort Madison High School - Madisonian Yearbook (Fort Madison, IA)

Page 18 text:

THE HIGH SCHOOL 'IIMES I-Ixll Green all scholars and educators of that country became deeply mterested ln the xmprovement of exnstmg condltxons and through then nnfluence certaxn Oxford students began a reform movement Thenr mtentxon from the first was to establxsh homes smnlar to the present settlement but not untxl 1884 was the first regular settlement Toynbee Hall founded at Whntechapel near London Three years later the movement had spread to the Umted States and the College Settlement nn Rxvxngton street New York had been opened There are really three kmds of settlements-church col lege and soclal but the chnef dxfference hes In the name and not m the purpose or actxvntxes All settlements depend to some extent on the hberahty of thexr frxends and patrons m many cases the buxldxngs and specxal equnpments have been donated by people who are nnterested nn the work A char actenstnc feature of all settlements IS that the resxdence of all workers IS more or less temporary and that wxth the excep txon of the head worker and at txmes an assxstant the res: dents pay thexr own expenses Each settlement begxns nts their nnterest nn nts hbrary penny bank gymnasium and boys and g1rls clubs and classes Then after gaxnmg the Conti dence of the parents the sphere of xts work IS xncreased Im provement of the streets and houses m the poor dxstrxcts ms usually the first cxvnc work attempted The prommence of a settlement depends largely on the scope of xts work and on the number of people whom xt reaches therefore all the larger and more xmportant settle ments are situated ln the large cxtnes In New York the Col lege Settlement xn Rxvmgton street wxth Mlss Wxllzams at nts head the East Sxde House under the management of Clarence Gordon and the Nurses Settlement whose founder and head resxdent ns Mlss Wald have become wxdely known The Roadside Settlement Des Momes IS the only one nn Iowa It IS a small anstxtutnon but has a wxde moral and socxal mflu ence Hull House and The Commons are the largest and most prominent settlements m Chxcago and possnbly nn the work among the children of the neighborhood by arousing

Page 17 text:

SOCIAL SETTLEMENT WORK EDNA HEISING VAL1- DICTORIAN NE QUESTION wh1ch confronts os WH every c1ty lS how to 1mprove the .1-Z-'i x condxtlons of the poorer classes ll V ll rlslfius---E QQ E , ,us so Q,,,WffJ,!j it A ' Many plans have been tried, but so fl far the social settlement movement XXKQLX Educated men and women have -v x XO opened soclal and educat1onal cen QUIK ters called settlements ln the poor est dxstrxcts of the ClflCS Recog l has been tl1e most successful nuzxng the need of estabhshmg closer relatlons between the two classes of socxety the poor and the wealthy they l1ve ln these settlements not because It IS a pleasure but because they Nant to 1mprove the cond1t1ons of a large class of people by gxvmg them every opportun1ty for culture At the same t1me these settlement workers secure for themselves a broader vxew of l1fe through contact wxth the common people The purpose of all settlements IS very sxmxlar That of Hull House as stated ln 1tS charter IS To provxde a center for a h1gher cxvlc and socxal 11fe to 1I'lSt1tl,1f6 and mamtam educatlonal and phllanthroplc enterpr1ses and to lI'1V8Stlg3.tC 'and 1mprove the condltxons ln the lndustrzal dlstrxcts of Chl cago Th1s vnrtually expresses the purpose of all settle ments Fxfty years ago these soclal and educatlonal centers were unknown the movement d1d not orlgmate untxl 1867 At that t1me the need of soclal reform was strongly felt m Eng land Doctor Arnold Fredenck D Maurxce and Thomas

Page 19 text:

THE HIGH SCHOOL TIMES Unxted States Jane Addams as founder and head worker of Hull House and Graham Taylor of The Commons have been unttrxng m themr efforts toward soc1al reform Jane Addams spent at least five years nn preparmg for her work From chxldhood she had been deeply xnterested nn the apparent mequalntnes of manknnd But not untnl she had vxsxted the larger cxtnes of Amerxca and Europe dxd she thoroughly realmze the necessxty for socnal reform or feel any desxre to take up such work At length she confided her plans to Mlss Helen Starr and the two set out on a tour of mspec tnon M1ss Addams went to London to study the manage ment and condxtxons at Toynbee Hall whxle Mxss Starr de parted for Italy to study the lzfe of the Italxan peasants A half year later January 1889 they were lookmg for a suxtable locat1on nn Chxcago to begm thenr settlement A house the former resxdence of Chas J Hull sntuated m the heart of a manufacturzng dxstrxct ln the mldst of a foretgn old dxlapxdated houses and frontxng an extremely dnrty and poorly lxghted street seemed to afford every opportunxty for whnch they were lookmg Durmg the summer the necessary repanrs were made and ID September 1889 the house was opened as Hull House Social Settlement. The enterpnse 1m medxately gaxned favor A kxnder garten and day nursery were the first thxngs attempted Then ln order to further gam the confidence of the parents receptxons were gxven to whxch they were xnvxted Separate receptlons were held for each nattonahty and when the Italxan women wxth thexr al most eastern habxts were lnvxted they sent thexr husbands tn stead of commg themselves All such dxfficultzes had to be overcome and xt was some txme before extensxve plans could be maugurated In spite of thxs fact, the first five years were marked by rapld development and nnprovement The num ber of buxldxngs was mcreased to four clubs for chtldren and adults were organxzed sanxtary and legal reforms were under taken, and a branch hbrary and readmg room were estab hshed . I V - V I - . , ' . ,, . . . . ,, . O 1 , . ' - I I I I I v . i . ' . . . . . v . . . and poverty-stricken population, surrounded on all sides by 1 - . ' . I I . I V . I , . I , - ' - I . . . ' . , -