Before and during the settlement house movement, conditions in the city slums were horrific. Sanitation was deplorable, most waste, human and otherwise, was thrown into the street and people lived in tenement houses where if one was lucky, their family got an entire room. People’s working conditions were not much better, they worked with heavy machinery in factories from dawn till dusk, averaging 14 hour days throughout the year and still didn’t make enough to properly support their family. Urban conditions were crowded, unhealthy, and dank, and yet still thousands of immigrants were drawn to them. This provided ample opportunity for philanthropy to help fill in the gaps in education, sanitation, and legislation. The two most important examples
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This movement led to the rise of social sciences and expanded the role of foundations immensely (Dr. Hatcher, Lecture, 10/22/2015). Social Darwinism was another idea prevalent throughout the Progressive Era, this was a taking …show more content…
Settlement houses were essentially community centers where people could go to get help with anything that was troubling them. This is illustrated by Hull House in Chicago, Illinois. This settlement house led by Jane Addams would provide members of the community with basic needs initially and would also provide for them a place to develop culture. Patrons of Hull House could get childcare, art lessons, and an education. Hull House became a compound of multiple buildings that serviced the community. The women of Hull House were educated women who did not want to marry right after they graduated from college and who were looking for a way to make a difference in the community. Through their work at Hull House they became trained social scientists and developed maps of their community. Settlement house became places that women could receive training, help communities, and eventually get higher income positions within the city government. Jane Addams, for instance, became involved heavily with sanitation in Chicago’s slums and received a position in the city government’s sanitation department for her efforts. Settlement houses also provided an opportunity for women to get involved in politics, women who worked at settlement houses saw firsthand what problems needed to be solved in their
This movement led to the rise of social sciences and expanded the role of foundations immensely (Dr. Hatcher, Lecture, 10/22/2015). Social Darwinism was another idea prevalent throughout the Progressive Era, this was a taking …show more content…
Settlement houses were essentially community centers where people could go to get help with anything that was troubling them. This is illustrated by Hull House in Chicago, Illinois. This settlement house led by Jane Addams would provide members of the community with basic needs initially and would also provide for them a place to develop culture. Patrons of Hull House could get childcare, art lessons, and an education. Hull House became a compound of multiple buildings that serviced the community. The women of Hull House were educated women who did not want to marry right after they graduated from college and who were looking for a way to make a difference in the community. Through their work at Hull House they became trained social scientists and developed maps of their community. Settlement house became places that women could receive training, help communities, and eventually get higher income positions within the city government. Jane Addams, for instance, became involved heavily with sanitation in Chicago’s slums and received a position in the city government’s sanitation department for her efforts. Settlement houses also provided an opportunity for women to get involved in politics, women who worked at settlement houses saw firsthand what problems needed to be solved in their