In the slum areas of many cities are found institutions called social settlements. Adults and children who live in nearby tenements visit them to attend classes and recreational activities. Resident workers who live in the settlements are trained to help people with their problems. Beginning in the 1880s these settlements helped immigrants by getting them adjusted to life in the United States. They offered classes in English and also helped immigrants find jobs and locate relatives. In England their aim was to help the poor. Today, where they still exist, the settlements are mainly neighborhood agencies. The staff members counsel families and individuals. They sponsor clubs, classes, sports teams, and hobby groups. Some of them employ vocational counselors, home economists, and psychologists. In the United States, with the continuing influx of immigrants, the agencies still help to ease the transition to life in a new country. Social settlements were created to improve the quality of life in industrial centers. With the growth of factories, people poured into cities. They lived in slums where crime and disease were rampant. In England graduates of Oxford and Cambridge universities were invited by the clergyman Samuel Augustus Barnett to live with the poor in the East End of London. In 1884 they founded the first social settlement. It was named Toynbee Hall for Arnold Toynbee, a social reformer. Toynbee Hall was still operating in the 1980s. The first social settlement in the United States was Neighborhood Guild, started in New York City in 1886. Later it was called University Settlement. In 1889 Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr founded Hull House in Chicago (see Addams). Other such institutions included Henry Street Settlement in New York City and South End House in Boston, Mass. |