Settlement movement

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The settlement movement started in 1884 in London. Growing concern in Victorian England concerning poverty gave rise to a movement whereby those connected to universities settled students in slum areas to live and work alongside local people. Through their efforts settlement houses were established for education, savings, sports, and arts.

The British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres (BASSAC) is a network of such organisations in the United Kingdom. Birmingham University has produced a brief history of the settlement movement in the UK. Examples of the earliest settlements dating back to 1884 are Aston-Mansfield, Toynbee Hall, and Oxford House. There is also a global network, the International Federation of Settlements.

The movement gave rise to many social policy initiatives and innovative ways of working to improve the conditions of the most excluded members of society. The Poor Man's Lawyer service came about because a barrister volunteered his time and encouraged his friends to do the same.

In the United States, the two largest and most influential settlement houses were Chicago's Hull House (founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889) and the Henry Street Settlement in New York (founded by Lillian Wald in 1893). United Neighborhood Houses of New York is the federation of 35 settlement houses in New York City. The concept was continued by Dorothy Day's Catholic Worker hospitality houses in the 1930s.

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