SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS. The name given to those houses, situated in the poorer districts of certain great cities, where educated men and women live, that they may come into contact with the poor and better the conditions of that class. The social settlement movement repre sents an attempt to establish closer relations between the higher and lower social classes, with the aim of giving to the poor opportunities for culture, while securing for the rich a broader view of life through closer contact with the people. Many settlements have become outposts for other institutions, social observatories and statistical laboratories. The movement originated in the enthusiasm of certain Oxford students, in fluenced by the philosophy of Dr. Arnold and Frederick D. Maurice, and by Thomas Hill Green, who felt the need of a better understanding of the life of the people.
In 1867 Edward Denison, a wealthy student, began to work in the parish of Saint Philips in Stepney. Early death prevented him from carry ing out his plan of establishing homes similar to the present settlement. In 1875 Arnold Toyn bee, then tutor at Oxford, spent his summer in Whitechapel, where he became a leader among workingmen. He, too, met an early death, but his influence was so strongly felt that the first settlement was named after him. Toynbee Hall was founded in 1S84 by Rev. Samuel A. 13arnett, in whose parish Toynbee had worked. The move ment spread rapidly and by 1890 there were promising university settlements in London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. In the United States, Hull Douse (Chicago) and the College Settle ment in New York City were opened in October, 1889. The Neighborhood Guild of New York, a forerunner of the settlement, now took on this new form as the University Settlement. The revised bibliography (see below) lists 44 set tlements in Great Britain, 101 in the United States, one regular settlement in Paris. and soy oral institutions with settlement activities, one in Berlin, and several in Ilolland. The movement has even spread to Japan, India, and New South Wales. The larger settlements are usually managed and supported by regularly incorporat ed associations. A head worker, who receives a salary, is engaged. The expenses are met by money raised in various ways. Buildings and special equipments are obtained by gifts. In order to create independence, a nominal fee is charged for some classes. A characteristic fea ture of the settlement is residence, more or less temporary, on the part of the workers both volunteer and paid. Except the head worker and occasionally an assistant, the residents, however. pay their expenses. ' The activities may be summed up as follows: (1) Physical. Gymnasium, baths, military drill, baseball, basketball, and playgrounds are pro vided. Efforts are made to improve the sanitary conditions of the neighborhood. Many settlements
have smnmer homes. (2) Educational. As an educational agency the settlement maintains cir culating libraries, reading-rooms, and home li braries; lectures; musical instruction; art in struction; classes for those who desire business training and law; for those whose education has been neglected, or for foreigners to learn English; for the study of literature, history, and econom ics; for industrial training, including domestic service, kitchen gardening, dressmaking, etc. (3) %Esthetic. Special picture exhibits and concerts arc given and pictures are loaned. Encourage ment is given to the growing of plants, and to other methods of beautifying individual homes. (4) Religious. Religions instruction is usually avoided, although Sunday talks, con certs, or open discussions are frequent. A few settlements—as the Chicago Commons or Oxford House—aim to exert a religions influence. (5) Philanthropic. In this field the settlement aims to co;iperate with existing organizations. Relief is very seldom given except as a personal mat ter. A dispensary, a day nursery, or an employ ment bureau is, however, frequently attached to a settlement. Flower distributions are made, and the University Settlement in New York co operates with a model pawnshop and a legal aid bureau. (6) Social. Numerous clubs are established for ath letic, and political clubs; dramatic. literary, and reading clubs; and all manner of clubs for girls and boys. Women's clubs and mothers' meet• lugs are common.
Additional features are the stamp savings hank for children, coffee houses, the publication of a newspaper or bulletin, and the promotion of boarding clubs, especially for working girls. Some settlements are especially interested in work with children or boys; others try to reach families or men, or to Americanize a foreign element. Some are distinctly homes; others are institutional. The settlement workers are interested in the labor problem and the settlement is often a headquarters for economic discussions, or, occa sionally, a meeting place for labor organizations. Civic interests are stimulated, and residents sometimes hold positions on State and munici pal boards. From time to time investigations are made from the settlement, and scholarships are sometimes given to further such work. See HULL DOUSE; SOCIAL DEBTOR CLASS; TOYNBEE, ARNOLD ; UNIVERSITY EXTENSION.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Montgomery, Bibliography of Bibliography. Montgomery, Bibliography of College, Social, (Tniversity, and Church Settle ments (4th ed.. Boston. 1900) ; Nero York Bureau of Labor Statistics (18th Annual Report. New York, 1900) : Coit, Neighborhood Guilds (2d ed., London, 1892) ; Woods, English Social Move Men S (New York, 1891).