Settlement Houses

As part of the Americanization process，reformers founded settlement houses in the urban immigrant neighborhoods of New York，Boston，Chicago，Detroit，Philadelphia，and other cities.They believed theymight fashion amore homogeneous society and bridge the class and social divisions created by the capitalistic industrial process.

8-3　Settlement House

Reformers situated settlement houses squarely in teeming ethnic neighborhoods to engage residents in their assimilation programs.The settlements provided educational classes and an orientation to American society，and programs included sport and physical training—promoted as alternatives to the immoral and unhealthy amusements available in city life—along with English instruction，civics classes，vocational education，stenography for women，clubs，and other activities that reformers deemed wholesome and appropriate.

Hull House4 in Chicago is one example of a settlement house aimed at assisting families in an immigrant ghetto.Itwas founded by Jane Addam s5，one of the first generation of college-educated women，and she eschewed the traditional roles for women.Typical ofmost settlement settings，the Hull House area housed seventy thousand residents representing 18 nationalities.The average family of fivemembers lived in three（or fewer）rooms and subsisted on a weekly income of$5.With the support ofwealthy patronswho questioned the excesses of the capitalist system or exhibited charitable motives，Hull House expanded its programs and facilities，attracting youth to its play spaces and sponsoring athletic teams for boys and girls.