This is a list of settlement houses in Chicago.
Settlement houses, which reached their peak popularity in the early 20th century, were marked by a residential approach to social work: the social workers ("residents") would live in the settlement house, and thus be a part of the same communities as the people they served. The movement began in England in 1884 but quickly spread; the first settlement house in Chicago was Hull House, founded in 1889.
By 1911, Chicago's neighborhoods boasted dozens of settlement houses, but in the course of the 20th century most of these closed. Some, however, remain in operation as social service agencies today, although most no longer follow the residential model. Some also merged into other organizations; for example, the Chicago Commons Association absorbed a number of settlement houses including Chicago Commons itself, the Olivet Institute, and the University of Chicago Settlement. Modern-day institutions that are or once were settlement houses include the Northwestern University Settlement House on the Near North Side and Benton House in Bridgeport.
The scope of this list includes any institution in Chicago that functioned as a settlement house at one time, even if it subsequently ceased to follow the settlements' residential model. Some addresses are based on sources prior to the 1910s, and may thus reflect older street-numbering systems and not correspond to the address the structure would have today.
| Name | Also known as | Location(s) | Founder(s) | Establishment | Disestablishment | Affiliations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln Centre | Abraham Lincoln Center | Oakwood Boulevard & Langley (original) 3858 S. Cottage Grove (current) | Jenkin Lloyd Jones | 1905 | Still operating[1] | Originally affiliated with the All Souls Unitarian Church |
| Archer Road Settlement | Francis E. Clark Settlement (1903-1910) | 250 W 22nd (1909-) | Charles W. Espey, Will La Favor | 1903 | ||
| YWCA Settlement | 2150 W North | North Side YWCA | 1899 | Still operating[2] | ||
| Benton House | Providence Day Nursery (1907-1916) House of Happiness (1916-1942) | 3052 S. Gratten | Janett Sturges | 1907 | Still operating[3] | |
| Central Settlement | 1409 Wabash | C.A. Kelly | 1903 | Open Church Methodist | ||
| 1951 W Fulton | W.T. Sumner, Frank K. Sadler | 1908 | ||||
| Chase House | Chase Neighborhood House | 637 W 43rd | 1907 | St. Paul's Episcopal Church | ||
| Chicago Commons | Grand & Morgan (1901-1948) | Graham Taylor | 1894 | Still operating (as citywide association) | ||
| Chicago Hebrew Institute[4] | 1258 W Taylor | 1906 | ||||
| Christopher House | 1528 East Fullerton (1907-) | 1907 | First Presbyterian Church of Evanston | |||
| Clybourn Avenue Settlement | 245 Clybourn | David Swing | 1893 | a. 1900 | Presbyterian Home Mission Board (1893-1897) | |
| Eli Bates House | Elm Street Settlement, Unity Settlement | 621 Elm | 1895 | Unity Church | ||
| Emanuel Settlement | 2732 W Armour | Dr. Fannie Emanuel | 1908 | |||
| Emerson House | 1802 Emerson (various subsequent locations) | 1910 | 1948: Merged with Chicago Commons | |||
| Esther Falkenstein Settlement | Settlement House of Armitage Avenue | 1917 N. Humboldt (1908-) | Esther Falkenstein | 1900 | ||
| Fellowship House | Helen Heath Settlement (1895-1904) | 831 W 33rd Place | 1895 | All Souls Unitarian Church (1895-1904) | ||
| Forward Movement | Epworth House | Monroe & Loomis | Rev. George W. Gray | 1893 | Methodist Episcopal Church (1893-1896) | |
| 3032 Wabash | Celia Parker Woolley | 1904 | ||||
| Gads Hill Center | Gads Hill Social Settlement (1898-1916) | 1959 W. 20th (1909-) 1919 W. Cullerton (present) | Leila A. Martin | 1898 | Still operating[5] | |
| Halsted & 20th | 1903 | |||||
| Henry Booth House | 701 W 14th Place | William Mackintire Salter | 1898 | Ethical Culture Society | ||
| Hull House | Hull-House | 800 S. Halsted | Jane Addams, Ellen Gates Starr | 1889 | 2012: filed for bankruptcy.[6] | |
| Hyde Park Center | 5643 S Lake | Hyde Park Juvenile Protection League | 1909 | |||
| Dearborn Center | 3825 S Dearborn | 1900 | African Methodist Episcopal Church | |||
| Kirkland School Settlement | 219 Indiana | Elizabeth Kirkland | 1896 | 1897 | Kirkland School | |
| Madonna Center | Guardian Angel Mission (1898-1922)[7] | Agnes Ward Amberg | 1898 | 1962 | Roman Catholic Church | |
| Maxwell Street Settlement | 1214 S Clinton | Jacob Abt, Jesse Lowenhaupt | 1893 | |||
| Medical Missionary College Settlement | 1895[8] | a. 1900 | American Medical Missionary College | |||
| Mutual Benefit House | Girls' Club | 531 W Superior | 1897 | |||
| Neighborhood Guild | 2512 Wentworth | 1906 | Christ Reformed Episcopal Church | |||
| Neighborhood House | 6710 May (1906-) | Harriet Van Der Vaart | 1907 | Universalist Church of Englewood (1897-1900) | ||
| Northwestern University Settlement House | Augusta & Noble (1901–present) | Henry Wade Rogers, Charles Zueblin, et al. | 1891 | Still operating[9] | ||
| Olivet Institute | Vedder & Penn | Norman Barr | 1898 | 1966/1967: merged with Chicago Commons | Presbyterian Church | |
| Onward Neighborhood House | Onward Presbyterian Church | Ohio & Leavitt (1893-2017)5423 W Diversey Ave (2017–present)[10] | Mission Sunday School[11] (Hoyne and Grand Ave) | 1893 | Still operating | |
| Rouse Settlement | 3213 Wallace | 1898 | Trinity Episcopal Church | |||
| South Deering Neighborhood Center | 10441 S Hoxie | Harriet Mitchell, Mrs. Alex Natanson | 1907 | |||
| South End Center | 3212 91st | Grace Darling | 1907 | |||
| South Side Settlement | Ada S. McKinley Community Services | Ada S. McKinley | 1919[12] | Still operating[13] | ||
| St. Elizabeth Settlement | 317 Orleans | 1893 | Roman Catholic Church | |||
| St. Mary's Settlement | 656 W 44th | Roman Catholic Church | ||||
| Union Avenue Parish House | G.F. Swift Memorial | 4356 Union Avenue | 1906 | Methodist Church | ||
| University of Chicago Settlement | Mary McDowell Settlement House | 4630 Gross Avenue (1905-) | Mary McDowell | 1894 | 1966/1967: merged with Chicago Commons[14] | Christian Union of the University of Chicago |
| Wentworth Neighborhood Center | Wentworth & 43rd Pl. | Lillie Anna Pfeiffer | 1909 | |||