Hull House

Hull House, American social settlement (or settlement house), founded in 1889 in Chicago by the social reformer Jane Addams and her associates. It was established primarily as a welfare agency for needy families and also to combat juvenile delinquency by providing recreational facilities for children living in slums. It also sought to assist immigrants, then a large proportion of the Chicago population, to learn the English language and to become American citizens. The settlement was originally housed in a single building (the Hull mansion); it later maintained 13 buildings and became one of the largest institutions of its kind in the United States. Its facilities included a day nursery, gymnasium, meeting and recreation rooms for youngsters and adults, arts-and-crafts workshops, classrooms for adult education, a music school, a theater for amateur dramatic performances, and a social service center. Funds for Hull House were provided entirely by voluntary contributions of private citizens and grants by other social welfare agencies. Hull House was one of many settlement houses that were established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other settlement houses included Neighborhood Guild on the Lower East Side in New York City, and Andover House (later called South End House) in Boston.