Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-04-04
STORY OF HULL HOUSE.
Great Work of Two Women.

One of the most widely known and
useful institutions in the world for
the uplifting of the neglected classes
is situated on South Halsted street
4 in Chicago.
\ cable car on Adams street near
the Fair will land you at its door.
Halsted street is one of the great
Ithoroughfares of Chicago. From its,
terminus at the lake shore ON the
north, just beyond the Lake View
waterworks. to its southern end, in
one unbroken line is thirfy-two miles.
Polk street crosses Halsted mid
way between the stock yards ON the
south, and the ship-building yards
on the north branch of Chicago river
| For six miles between these two
great industries the street is lined
with butcher shops, groceries. dingy
and gorgeous saloons, three or four
brazen, theatres of low degree, second
hand stores. pawn Shops, and mum
berless clothing stores. very few of
them of a high class, indeed most of
them of the very humblest sort. Hull
house settlement is located at the
corner of Halsted and Polk streets.
/ Going west from this corner Polk
street improves in the quality of its
homes and inhabitants. Eastward
il degenerates into dives, doggeries,
low and vicious resorts, till it termi-
mates on Clark street near the Grand
Trunk station, in one of the very
worst plague spots in the city. The
Nineteenth ward, in which Hull house
settlement is located, contains 255
saloons, one to each twenty-eight vo-
tiers. There are seven churches and
two missions located within its
boundaries. In these nine religious
centers the English language is used
in but three. The public schools have
accommodations for 1898 and the
limits have long ago been reached
and children sit on chairs and the
platforms. Night schools have been
established by the board of education
and are well attended. The Hebrews
also maintain fine manual training
school just outside the boundaries of
the ward on the south.
The houses of the ward are for the
most part wooden. Most of them
were built where they stand, though
many of them came on rollers to
their present location.
There are few huge and foul tene-
ments. This site for settlement
was selected because of its diversity
and the variety of activity for which
it presented an opportunity.
Hull house settlement is an at
Tempt to make social intercourse eX-
press the growing sense of the econo-
mic unity of society. 1t was opened
and is conducted on the theory that
the dependence of the classes ton each
other is reciprocal. They were brave
young women. those two-Miss Jane
Adams and Miss Ellen G.. Starr-to
devote their fortunes GOr they we're
wealthy and their lives TO the up
lifting of SO heterogeneous and so UNI
promising a mass of humanity as is
within the boundaries of
that Nineteenth ward,
Between HaIsted street and the |
river live about 10000 Italians, Neap- !
ulitans. Sicilians, Calabrians, with an |
Lombard or Venetian. To |
the south on Twelfth street are many !
Germans. and side streets arc given |
over almost entirely to Polish and |
Russian Jews. Further south these |
colonies merge into a huge Bohemian |
colony so vast that Chicago ranks as
the third Bohemian city in the world.
To the north and west is Il large |
ieighborhoOd of Canadian French.
.lannish and as un-Amcrican as If
hey were in the province of Quebec
Hull house itself is a large, once
.aIled handsome. old residence. with
nipple halls and spacious rooms. The
birth of the settlement took place i'm
1889, and its growth has
,cen as quiet as was its birth. for no
flourish of trumpets, or sly-rocket
promises were made by those two
arrest but modest young women,
ust graduated from Rockford col
eye. Their first friendships were
made among the children of the
then With their
Mothers. The record of the first few
weeks work include a story hour for
he little ones. a few afternoon teas.
IN evening class or two. widening
ircle of acquaintances, and the max
no of a few warm friends.
The motives of the two young wo-
nen. first misunderstood and misrep-
esente1. viewed with suspicion, and
mt their steadfast l1indliness, won
heir way among their neighbors, and 7
he record of thirteen years is. read
twice. forty-seven evening classes
Meeting weekly at the house, twenty
We of them for adults. seventeen az
ernoon clubs for children. the Hull
louise music school. a choral society
90, ,d,,1ts a obiIdrensS sewing school. {