[8] This was Wald's first experience with poverty; she called the episode her "baptism by fire" and dedicated herself to bringing nursing care, and eventually education and access to the arts, to the immigrant poor on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

[10] In 1915, the Neighborhood Playhouse, one of the first "Little Theatres", was created by the sisters Alice and Irene Lewisohn at the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets, offering classical drama for the people of the area.

In 1937, the school premiered the play-opera The Second Hurricane, which featured music by Copland, libretto by Edwin Denby, direction by Orson Welles, and orchestral conduction by Lehman Engel.

The director at the time, Grace Spofford, initially suggested the idea of a play-opera for school performers, and was largely responsible for bringing the production together.

Faculty have included violinist Ivan Galamian, pianist Isabelle Vengerova, bassoonist Stephen Maxym, conductor Arnold Gamson, and composers Paul Creston, Roy Harris, and Robert Starer.

[14] In honor of Henry Street's 125th anniversary, American artist, KAWS, collaborated with the Settlement to hold an interactive workshop for art students from the Lower East Side community.

[15] At his passing, actor and comedian Jerry Stiller, bequeathed an undisclosed sum to Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Arts Center and Boys & Girls Republic, community programs that aid in the educational and artistic development of Lower Ease Side youth.

The designation is founded upon Lillian Wald's romantic and platonic relationships with the women she affectionately called "The Family" (a concept commonly used in women-run settlement houses), who provided an essential support network for her from the 1890s until her retirement in the 1930s.