Which factor contributed most to the growth of the settlement house movement in the US in the early 20th century?

Between the 1880s and 1920s, hundreds of settlement houses were established in American cities in response to an influx of European immigrants as well as the urban poverty brought about by industrialization and exploitative labor practices. Settlement houses were organizations that provided support services to the urban poor and European immigrants, often including education, healthcare, childcare, and employment resources. Many settlement houses established during this period are still thriving today.

In 1886 Stanton Coit, American-born leader of the Ethical movement in England founded the Neighborhood Guild on New York’s Lower East Side. In May 1891, the guild was as the University Settlement Society with the aim “to bring men and women of education into closer relations with the laboring classes in this city, for their mutual benefit. The society shall establish and maintain in the tenement house districts places of residence for college men and others desirous of aiding in the work, with rooms where the people of the neighborhood may meet for social and educational purposes.”—Constitution.Incorporated March, 1892.

Co-founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr in 1889, The Hull House in Chicago quickly becomes most famous settlement house in U.S. and serves as a model for over 400 other settlements across the country. Significantly, many settlement houses were established, led, and staffed by women, often from middle and upper classes. Addams believed in the interdependence of social classes; rather than encourage charity towards the poor, she advocated the importance of working with and among working class communities. By 1893 Jane Addams begins referring to herself as “the grandmother of American settlements.”

Settlement houses reflected a broader commitment to social reform during the Progressive Era. Jane Addams and Lillian Wald, founder of New York’s Henry Street Settlement, for example, were also active in campaigns against child labor and for public health, sanitation, industrial workplace safety reform, and women’s suffrage. Programs for children and young people featured prominently among settlement houses’ services. Many offered kindergarten classes before kindergarten was offered in many public school districts. Settlement houses also provided classes, clubs, and social opportunities for children and teenagers.

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Presentation U.S. History Primary Source Timeline

The early 20th century was an era of business expansion and progressive reform in the United States. The progressives, as they called themselves, worked to make American society a better and safer place in which to live. They tried to make big business more responsible through regulations of various kinds. They worked to clean up corrupt city governments, to improve working conditions in factories, and to better living conditions for those who lived in slum areas, a large number of whom were recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Many progressives were also concerned with the environment and conservation of resources.

Which factor contributed most to the growth of the settlement house movement in the US in the early 20th century?
Suffragettes - Mrs. Alice Burke and Nell Richardson in the suffrage automobile "Golden Flyer" in which they will drive from New York to San Francisco. April 7, 1916. Bain Collection

This generation of Americans also hoped to make the world a more democratic place. At home, this meant expanding the right to vote to women and a number of election reforms such as the recall, referendum, and direct election of Senators. Abroad, it meant trying to make the world safe for democracy. In 1917, the United States joined Great Britain and France--two democratic nations--in their war against autocratic Germany and Austria-Hungary. Soon after the Great War, the majority of Americans turned away from concern about foreign affairs, adopting an attitude of live and let live.

The 1920s, also known as the "roaring twenties" and as "the new era," were similar to the Progressive Era in that America continued its economic growth and prosperity. The incomes of working people increased along with those of middle class and wealthier Americans. The major growth industry was automobile manufacturing. Americans fell in love with the automobile, which radically changed their way of life. On the other hand, the 1920s saw the decline of many reform activities that had been so widespread after 1900.

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What caused the settlement house movement?

The settlement movement grew in response to the overcrowding, impoverishment, corruption, and disease caused by rapid industrialization and urbanization. One of the most enduring reform movements, it uniquely attempted to change problem neighborhoods from within.

What was the purpose of settlement houses in the early twentieth century?

Settlement houses were organizations that provided support services to the urban poor and European immigrants, often including education, healthcare, childcare, and employment resources.

Which aspect of US society led to the Americanization movement of the early 20th century?

Americanization refers to the movement in the early 20th century to assimilate the new influx of immigrants from southern and central Europe. The movement was fueled by fears that the newcomers would threaten the American way of life during WWI and the Red Scare.

What was the purpose of settlement houses built in the United States between 1889 and 1920?

Her Hull House, co-founded with Ellen Gates Starr in 1889, is possibly the most famous settlement house created in the United States. Hull House was created to provide the poor an avenue for the creation of cultural and social events and groups to further their interests and provide for their needs.