Twenty Years at Hull House

The Settlement Movement began in England in the 1860s when a group of idealistic middle-class reformers were troubled by the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution, including the harsh factory system replacing individual artisan professions, and the increasing wealth gap between impoverished factory workers and the capitalist gentry. The goal of creating a Settlement in a poor neighborhood was to introduce education, skilled labor, and science into the community, addressing the causes of poverty, and not merely providing charity. Edward Denison in 1867 and Arnold Toynbee in 1875 were among the first middle-class Englishmen to move to working-class districts, offering courses in various subjects and opening community centers. Flexibility was important in the Settlement Movement because each Settlement had to develop in response to the needs of its community. Addams viewed the Settlement Movement as extending democratic principles into the social sphere, providing an outlet for the natural desire for fellowship and to help other people. Addams was oriented toward the Christian spirit of humanitarianism although the Settlement remained a secular institution in order to welcome people of all faiths. The Settlement Movement in the United States peaked around the time of World War I as Congress restricted immigration and war efforts distracted from social reform.