The Northwestern University Settlement House

One of the few, remaining Settlement Houses in the country, the Northwestern University Settlement House has been in operation since 1891. It continues to assist families and individuals in the West Town and Humboldt Park neighborhoods in overcoming the obstacles of poverty and inadequate resources, so that they may lead more fulfilling and productive lives. The Settlement provides help for the immediate short-term crisis, as well as support, knowledge and opportunities to improve lives over the long-term. Core programs at the Settlement include: Emergency Services, Head Start, Elementary After-School Programs, Teen Programs, Resident Camping, Performing Arts and Adult/Family Social Gatherings. Other programs at the Settlement that provide for the surrounding community include: AmeriCorps Project Yes!, the CCT Art Gallery and the Noble Street Charter High School.

What is a Settlement House? How is it linked to the University?

The “Settlement Movement” was born in London, England at the end of the 19th century. At that time, London was the world’s largest city, with about 4 million inhabitants—many of whom experienced very poor working conditions, unemployment, bad housing and serious health problems. Settlement Houses were places in neighborhoods where the first social workers lived or “settled” in order to better understand the conditions of the neighborhood they sought to improve. St. Jude’s parish in London was one such place where, in 1873, Samuel Barnett and his wife, Henrietta Rowland, became the Head Residents. Mr. Barnett believed that the root cause of poverty was the division of society into classes, and turned to the local universities for help. He proposed the establishment of a University Settlement in St. Jude’s Parish so that privileged students and disadvantaged local residents could live as neighbors and work to improve local conditions together. Thus, the first University Settlement, called Toynbee Hall, was established in 1884. Early work at Toynbee Hall included adult education courses and university extension lectures, children’s county holidays, art exhibitions, literary and dramatic societies, assistance to Jewish immigrants, and the training of teachers and social workers.

How our Settlement came to be…

In 1891, several concerned citizens who happened to be faculty and administrators of Northwestern University, decided to start a Settlement after the model of Toynbee Hall. They built an independent, not-for-profit organization, with little to no governance from the University, but as a place where professors and students could work to improve the quality of life in their city. They chose to establish the Settlement House in the West Town neighborhood because of the area’s high death rate, crime rate and unemployment rate and dense population of immigrants who spoke little to no English. For the first decade, the Northwestern University Settlement House operated out of several locations before finally settling at its current site at 1400 West Augusta Boulevard in 1901.

So, why a theater in the Settlement House?

The Vittum Theater, a space operated by the Northwestern University Settlement House, was renovated and opened in 1998 in honor of Harriet Elizabeth Vittum, Head Resident of the Settlement from 1907 to 1947. Harriet Vittum advocated dramatic and musical arts because she believed the arts empower self-expression and self-worth. During Harriet Vittum’s leadership, the Settlement ran the Guild Playhouse, home to performances honoring its neighbors and their cultures. The Guild Playhouse was destroyed as a result of fire in 1947, the year Harriet Vittum retired. Originally a dance hall, owned by a trade union at one time and the Polish Union at another, the Vittum’s art deco proscenium arch still stands as a monument to the Settlement’s past performances and its continued commitment to connecting the arts to the surrounding community.