Northwestern University Settlement House

The Northwestern University Settlement House was one of the major contributions in Chicago history to creating American social reform, as part of a broader, international movement.

Advocates of the Settlement movement such as Samuel Barnett and Arnold Toynbee in the UK, and Lillian Wald, Harriet Vittum, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jane Addams in the U.S., influenced the social policy arena.

In January 1891, the President of Northwestern University, Henry Wade Rogers, his wife Emma, and two faculty members founded the Settlement Association.

Northwestern University Settlement House provided the poor of Chicago's West Town neighborhood with educational and recreational programs.

Its mission was to provide resources that empower its "neighbors" to take personal responsibility for overcoming the obstacles of poverty and improving the quality of their lives.