Settlement movement

A reform movement in which volunteers lived in poor urban neighborhoods and worked alongside residents to improve social and economic conditions.

Settlement house: A neighborhood institution that provided social, educational, and cultural services, often through resident volunteers. The settlement house was the movement’s local base for living and working alongside residents.
Toynbee Hall: A settlement house founded in London’s East End in 1884 by Samuel and Henrietta Barnett. Its model of university-educated residents living among working-class neighbors inspired settlements elsewhere.
Jane Addams: An American reformer who co-founded Hull House in Chicago and became a leading settlement movement figure. Her work made Hull House a prominent example of settlement practice and reform.
Mothers' pensions: Public payments intended to support mothers who lacked sufficient income to care for their children. Settlement reformers helped advocate assistance that kept poor families together.
Charity Organization Society: A late nineteenth-century organization that coordinated private charity and investigated applicants for assistance. Unlike many settlement workers, charity organization advocates emphasized case investigation and coordinated relief.
Social work: A profession that supports people and communities and addresses social problems through direct services and advocacy. Settlement volunteers’ casework and community services helped shape this emerging profession.
Samuel Barnett: An English Anglican clergyman and social reformer who co-founded Toynbee Hall. His experiments in community life and education helped establish the settlement model.
Ellen Gates Starr: An American social reformer who co-founded Hull House with Jane Addams in 1889. She helped establish the settlement that became a major center of the movement.
Juvenile court: A court system that handles cases involving children and young people separately from adult criminal courts. Settlement reformers supported specialized courts and more protective approaches to children.
Friendly visitor: A volunteer who visited poor households to offer guidance and encourage personal improvement. Friendly visitors typically entered neighborhoods from outside rather than living there as settlement residents did.

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