Ada Sophia Dennison McKinley (June 26, 1868 – August 25, 1952)[1] was an American educator, settlement house worker, and activist in Chicago, Illinois.
[7] Pivoting from the War Camp Club, McKinley established her own social services program to serve, educate, and employ veterans and other marginalized communities in Chicago's South Side.
After the Chicago race riot of 1919, she marched together with white settlement house workers including Jane Addams and Harriet Vittum to show that interracial solidarity was possible.
[8] She also worked with the Chicago Commission on Race Relations to provide aid and alleviate racial tensions[4] McKinley established the Soldiers and Sailors Club in 1919 at a facility on South Wabash.
The program attended to the needs of returning African-American servicemen from World War I[2] through providing them meals, shelter, health care, and employment in the community.
[6] Keen on giving back and promoting higher education, Ada mentored graduate social work students after retirement through her settlement house.
"[8] Ada S. McKinley Community Services arranged to have her reinterred at the Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago, along with her husband and son.
Annually, these locations collectively serve over 7,000 people, providing mental health counseling, employment resources, youth service, and pathways to higher education.