Published by Primary Source Microfilm

The National Federation of Settlements was founded in 1911 by a group of distinguished social workers. Jane Addams of Hull House (Chicago) served as the first president of the organization which created new initiatives, pioneered new services and addressed itself to specific problems such as housing, unemployment, sanitation and squalid living conditions in many of the poor communities in early 20th-century America.

Drawn from the Social Welfare History Archives at the University of Minnesota, Archives of the Settlement Movement is one of the richest and most diverse sets of records available covering issues of fundamental concern to Americans during the past century.

Part One contains minutes (1910-1961), annual reports (1946-1961) and conference papers (1911-1961) as well as:

• Crucial early documents such as the John Palmer Gavit Scrapbook (1897) and the Handbook of Settlements (1911) written by Robert Woods and Albert J. Kennedy
• Chronological files and committee papers (1911-1958)
• The Bible, The Round Table and Neighborhood
• Major studies on prohibition, unemployment, the 1926 report Settlement Goals for the Next Third of a Century and the report of the 1958 Arden House Conference, Neighborhood Goals in a Rapidly Changing World

Significant issues examined in Part Two include:

• The creation of special welfare programs, health, unemployment relief, social security, housing, education, delinquency and the establishment and direction of youth work programs
• Civil rights, civil liberties and the "Americanization" of immigrants in the settlements
• Prohibition
• The Peace Movement and the role of settlements in the National Defense effort
• Art and music in the settlements
• The Great Depression, the relationship of the settlements to the New Deal welfare programs and the Trade Union Movement

Part One: Minutes, Reports & Proceedings of Central Policy Making Groups
20 reels

Part Two: Domestic Programs: Project Files on Public Policy and Social Issues, 1911 - 1961
22 reels

Part Three: National Federation of Settlements & Successors, Domestic Programs: Selected Files of NFS Member Houses & City Federations, 1800-1961
15 reels

Part Four: International Activities of the National Federation of Settlements & Successors, 1920-1960
10 reels

Part Five: Major Figures of the Settlement Movement: Correspondence, Speeches, & Articles, 1899-1958
7 reels

Complete collection: 74 reels