Talk:Hull House

Early thoughts
Antonio "Tiger," Thanks you for your guidance and encouragement. It was a worthwhile experience to dig up the data you suggested. I leave you with a combined quote:--Dominick Candeloro, Italian Amarican historian and Martin Scorcese, Gangs of New York--"If we do not act now to preserve our history, it will be as if we never were." And one final quote from a recent speech, given on separate occassions, to both the Fulbright Scholars and the Conference of Italian American Writers, "History should be told by those who live it." Thanks again for your patience! Vince Romano 11/30/08 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vromano (talk • contribs) 17:26, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

A picture of Hull House would probably be nice. - AKeen 18:19, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Is there any criticism of Hull House being a force for cultural homogenization, encouraging immigrants to divest themselves of their former identities in order to be more "American"? Just curious. I've always wondered if Hull House was really as "enlightened" a place as some seem to love to make it sound. Turly-burly 06:33, 5 July 2006 (UTC) ---

Referencing the above question, no. In fact Hull-House was known to appreciate the cultural heritage of the community. Jane Addams, writing in "The Process of Social Transformation," said, on the institution of classes at Hull House: "From the very beginning, however, the educational process was mutual; Greek plays were given by Greek immigrants, already familiar with their own classics ...; reading parties in Dante were led by a local Italian editor..." TychaBrahe 15:11, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

The most important criticism is the failure to reference the symbiotic relationship that existed between Hull House and the residents of "The Hull House Neighborhood." Quoting the Taylor Street Archives: UIC: Flawed Hustory, Taylor Street's Little Italy was the laboratory upon which the Hull House elite had tested their theories and formulated their challenges to the establishment.

The symbiotic relationship that had existed between Hull House and Taylor Street, the port-of-call for those Italian Americans who had emigrated to Chicago, has been documented from the very beginning of Hull House's existence. One of the first newspaper articles ever written about Hull House (Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1890) acknowledges the following invitation sent to the residents of the Hull House neighborhood. It begins with: “Mio Carissimo Amico”…and is signed, Le Signorine, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr. It was not written in Greek, Jewish, Polish, German, or Norwegian...nor was it written in English. That invitation to the community, written during the first year of Hull House's existence, was written in Italian.

Alice Hamilton, medical professional and early member of that elite group was quoted as saying, "Those Italian women knew what a baby needed more than my Ann Harbor professors did." The ancillary literature between, among and about members of that Hull House elite is littered with such comments reinforcing the symbiotic relationship that existed between Taylor Street's Little Italy and Hull House.

During the glory days of Hull House, the inner core, the heart and soul of the neighborhood that surrounded Hull House proper, was Italian-American. Other ethnic groups had long vacated the neighborhood by the time the offspring of those emigrant parents, the first generation Italian Americans, arrived on the scene. Only the businesses of those non-Italians remained on the outer fringes of what Jane Addams named “The Hull House Neighborhood.”

The history of Taylor Street’s Little Italy and the history of Hull House and the Hull House summer camp (Bowen Country Club) are not separate and distinct. Neither is complete without the other. Meet the ‘Hull House Kids’ appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on Sunday, April 5, 1987. While the article was written in 1987, the picture, taken on a summer day in 1924, depicts twenty young boys posing in the Dante school yard on Forquer Street (now Arthington Street). The historic picture was taken by Wallace K. Kirkland Sr., who became a top photographer with Life magazine. The Sun-Times article lists the names of each of the young boys and refutes an earlier attempt to label them as being of Irish ethnicity. All twenty boys were first generation Italian Americans…all with vowels at the end of their names. “They grew up to be lawyers and mechanics, sewer workers and dump truck drivers, a candy shop owner, a boxer and a mob boss.”

The Bethlehem-Howard Neighborhood Center Records further substantiates (per Jane Addams own words) that, as early as the 1890s, the inner core of “The Hull House Neighborhood” was overwhelmingly Italians. “Germans and Jews resided south of that inner core (south of twelfth street)…The Greek delta formed by Harrison, Halsted and Blue Island Streets served as a buffer to the Irish residing to the north and the Canadian–French to the northwest.” If those were the demographics as early as the 1890s, the flight of those ethnic groups shortly after the turn of the century suggests that not only were the “Hull House Boys” from Arthington Street of Italian extraction, but the entire community from the river on the east end on out to the western ends of what came to be know as “Little Italy” —from Roosevelt Road on the south to the Harrison Street delta on the north--was virtually all Italians.

Jane Addams' writings also contradict the flawed 1895 federal census which misrepresents the number of Italian-Americans residing in the inner core of the Hull House Neighborhood. There are many reasons why Italian immigrants would mislead a stranger knocking on their door to inquire about the number of residents who resided in their home. Many Italian Americans were sent back to Italy after being interviewed by Ellis island government officials when they first arrived. The "Black Hand" extortionists were part of the Italian American culture. The "White Hand" extortionists, via non-Italian politicians, were not hesitant to use the city's housing codes to impose their will. There was the constant fear that they may be exposed as being illegally hired by their employer. And on...and on...and on...!

Failed "good article" nomination
This article failed good article nomination. This is how the article, as of February 19, 2007, compares against the six good article criteria:


 * 1. Well written?: The whole of the article needs a thorough copy-edit or two. The first graf in the first section needs to be rewritten, the sentences go on and on.
 * 2. Factually accurate?: It seemed well referenced through reliable sources.
 * 3. Broad in coverage?: Nothing about the building's architecture was included.
 * 4. Neutral point of view?: Was there no criticism of settlement houses whatsoever. This article implies that as fact.
 * 5. Article stability? Looked pretty stable, saw only two reversion since 2007 started.
 * 6. Images?: Were included and the ones there were pretty decent. Wouldn't mind seeing the entire house in frame, but that had nothing to do with the article failing the GA nomination.

When these issues are addressed, the article can be resubmitted for consideration. Thanks for your work so far. --A mcmurray 17:58, 19 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The issues above were not even remotely addressed. This page has the architecture tag but the article says nothing about the architecture except in relation to the university. Which is very strange since it is part of the College of Arts and Architecture at U of C. I would fail this article if I reviewed it without a second thought. IvoShandor 16:26, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

GA (2nd nom) On Hold
Based on criteria at WP:WIAGA and notes of the prior reviewer, I have placed this article on hold for 7 days to make further fixes. If these fixes cannot be made within 7 days, I will have to fail the article. Again, please make these changes within the next 7 days, or the article will fail GA again. Please feel free to ask me any questions here or at my talk page. --Jayron32| talk | contribs 05:05, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Referencing issues:
 * Mission section (first section) is unreferenced. Needs refs badly.
 * ✅ Mostly using EOC and EOC online. TonyTheTiger (talk/cont/bio) 20:56, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Organization issues:
 * There seems to be 2 distinct parts to this article: The Hull House building and the Hull House association. The article needs some improvement to separate the structure from the social-work organization that was founded there.
 * ✅ Mostly revised intro for clarity of distinction by making two separate paragraphs. 20:22, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Broadness of coverage:
 * The article needs to be expanded, especially vis-a-vis the work of the organization, its leaders, and any critical review (positive or negative) of their work. The building section looks improved from prior versions, but we now need to expand on the work of Addams and her successors.

GA passed
All of my concerns appear to have been fixed. Congrats on passing GA status! --Jayron32| talk | contribs 00:14, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Hull-House vs. Hull House
I know that the Jane Addams Hull House Association refers to itself as such, but Addams and her contemporaries, notably Polacheck and Bowen, refer to it as Hull-House. Since we're discussing the historic settlement house and not the modern association, should we make the change, or at least note the historic name? TychaBrahe 15:10, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

GA Sweeps Review: Pass
As part of the WikiProject Good Articles, we're doing sweeps to go over all of the current GAs and see if they still meet the GA criteria. I'm specifically going over all of the "Culture and Society" articles. I believe the article currently meets the criteria and should remain listed as a Good article. I have made several minor corrections throughout the article. Altogether the article is well-written and is still in great shape after its passing in 2007. Continue to improve the article making sure all new information is properly sourced and neutral. It would also be beneficial to go through the article and update all of the access dates of the inline citations and fix any dead links. If you have any questions, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I have updated the article history to reflect this review. Happy editing! --Nehrams2020 (talk) 08:55, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Synergy between Hull House and Taylor Street's
This piece, while politically correct is, by omission, historically inaccurate.

The story of Hull House is meaningless without noting the synergy that existed between Taylor Street's Little Italy and Hull House. Taylor Street's Little Italy was the laboratory upon which the Hull House elite practiced their social theories and upon which they based their challenges to the establishment. During the 1940s, 50's and 60's, the inner core of the Hull House Neighborhood was wall-to-wall Italian American emigrants and their first generation offspring. Ditto for the Bowen Country Club, the Hull House Summer Camp.

Floence Scala pointed to the Hull House Mob as the culprits who sold out the neighborhood when it was dismantled and demolished for the financial benefit of insiders.

Want an fuller and more honest undertanding of Hull House? Turn to the Taylor Street Archive site. Written by someone who attended Hull House and the Bowen Country Club while growing up in Little Italy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vromano (talk • contribs) 16:56, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.207.142.40 (talk) 23:05, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

The Hull House Neighborhood While the inner core and the outer core, of what Jane Addams called "The Hull House Neighborhood," was a mix of various ethnic groups who had emigrated to Chicago, it was the Italian Americans who endured as a community. The flight out of the Hull House Neighborhood by non-Italian ethnic groups, Greeks from the Greek Delta and those occupying the outer fringes of the Hull House Neighborhood, began during the early part of the 20th century. By the end of prohibition and the beginning of the great depression, the Greek Town residents along with the Maxwell Street (Jew Town) residents had virtually disappeared. They retained their businesses. Greek Town and Maxwell Street continued on as business districts only. Taylor Street's Little Italy remained as a neighborhood and community. Taylor Street, the inner core of Jane Addam's "Hull House Neighborhood," became the laboratory upon which the Hull House elite had tested their theories and formulated their challenges to the establishment.Taylor Street Archives

One of the first newspaper articles ever written about Hull House (Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1890) acknowledges the following invitation sent to the residents of the Hull House neighborhood. It begins with: “Mio Carissimo Amico”…and is signed, Le Signorine, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr. That invitation to the community, written during the first year of Hull House's existence, suggests that the inner core of what Jane Addam's called, "The Hull House Neighborhood," was overwhelmingly Italian American, as far back as the beginnings of the Jane Addams and Ellen Starr social experiment...as far back as the turn of the 20th century. The Bethlehem-Howard Neighborhood Center Records further substantiates (per Jane Addams own words) that, as early as the 1890s, the inner core of “The Hull House Neighborhood” was wall-to-wall Italians. “Germans and Jews resided south of that inner core (south of twelfth street)…The Greek delta formed by Harrison, Halsted and Blue Island Streets served as a buffer to the Irish residing to the north and the Canadian–French to the northwest.” The entire community from the river on the east end on out to the western ends of what came to be know as “Little Italy” —from Roosevelt Road on the south to the Harrison Street delta on the north--was virtually all Italians. Jane Addams' writings also contradict the flawed 1895 federal census which misrepresents the number of Italian-Americans residing in the inner core of the Hull House Neighborhood. There are many reasons why Italian immigrants would mislead a stranger knocking on their door to inquire about the number of residents who resided in their home. Many Italian Americans were sent back to Italy after being interviewed by Ellis island government officials when they first arrived. The "Black Hand" extortionists were part of the Italian American culture. The "White Hand" extortionists, via non-Italian politicians, were not hesitant to use the city's housing codes to impose their will. There was also the constant fear that they may be exposed as being illegally hired by their employer. The symbiotic relationship that had existed, between Hull House and what eventually came to be known as "Little Italy," has been documented from the very beginning of Hull House's existence. Alice Hamilton, medical professional and early member of that elite Hull House heirarchy, was quoted as saying, "Those Italian women knew what a baby needed more than my Ann Harbor professors did." The ancillary literature between, among and about members of that Hull House elite is littered with such comments reinforcing the symbiotic relationship that existed between Taylor Street's Little Italy and Hull House. The history of Taylor Street’s Little Italy and the history of Hull House and the Hull House summer camp (Bowen Country Club) are not separate and distinct.Taylor Street Archives: Hull House Summer Camp: Bowen Country Club Neither is complete without the other. A historic picture, "Meet the Hull House Kids," was taken on a summer day in 1924 by Wallace K. Kirkland Sr., Hull House Director. He later became a top photographer with Life magazine. The twenty Hull House Kids were described as young boys, of Irish ancestry, posing in the Dante school yard on Forquer Street (now Arthington Street). It circulated the world as a "poster child" for the Jane Addams' Hull House social experiment. On April 5, 1987, over a half century later, the Chicago Sun-Times refuted the contention that the Hull house Boys were of Irish ancestry. The Sun-Times article listed the names of each of the young boys. All twenty boys were first generation Italian Americans…all with vowels at the end of their names. “They grew up to be lawyers and mechanics, sewer workers and dump truck drivers, a candy shop owner, a boxer and a mob boss.” —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vromano (talk • contribs) 04:27, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Clean Up Needed
This article has a lot of redundancies and needs to be cleaned up. References should be as complete as possible, including on-line links, where available. Shsilver (talk) 19:38, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Will review and modify to avoid or minimize the redundancies. Vromano (talk) 14:14, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

Reworked it with a couple colleagues. Really proud of the streamlining that occurred as a result of your suggestion. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vromano (talk • contribs) 01:34, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Illinois mapYou've got to remove the Illinois map. Everyone knows where Chicago is. The space that it occupies distorts and damages the aesthetic qualities of the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vromano (talk • contribs) 16:00, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Vromano (talk) 16:13, 10 April 2009 (UTC)== Image: Illinois map. ==

The Illinois map distorts the "first blush" aestheitic quality of the article. It should be removed or moved. I favor removing it. It is rather juvenile in that every person on the planet knows where Chicgo is. if it were a map of the Near West Side; i.e., "The Hull House Neighborhood," it would enhance the meaning of the article and have academic value. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vromano (talk • contribs) 16:12, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Illinois map
Vromano (talk) 16:16, 10 April 2009 (UTC)The Illinois map distorts the "first blush" aestheitic quality of the article. It should be removed or moved. I favor removing it. It is rather juvenile in that every person on the planet knows where Chicgo is. if it were a map of the Near West Side; i.e., "The Hull House Neighborhood," it would enhance the meaning of the article and have academic value.

Hull House Neighborhood
I JUST NEED TO NO DA HULL HOUSE NEBERHUD PLZ!

Origin of name
I can't find any explanation of why the place was called  Hull  House. Kdammers (talk) 05:24, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

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Notable residents
,

I see that there is a tag on the article about not have any inclusion criteria that was added by. My thought is: they have to have some WP:Notability to have become a Wikipedia article - and - to make it into the list, they have to have used services or have been a resident of Hull House. I would be happy to check to ensure each of the linked articles mention the Hull House connection.

Is there something else that you think is needed?–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:07, 5 August 2023 (UTC)


 * An option is to remove the list and add a category for residents.–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:23, 5 August 2023 (UTC)


 * I am finding that most of the people worked at Hull House, so I have created two groups - founders and staff - and resident or non-resident affiliation. I have also removed the famous tag.–CaroleHenson (talk) 17:24, 5 August 2023 (UTC)