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Friends (Quakers) in Prison Reform

This entry was in the files of Charles Richmond Henderson (1848 – 1915), a notable sociologist and prison reformer. The new note that it struck was its emphasis upon the fact that all the interests of society were affected by the existence of the depraved and unfortunate classes, and that therefore the work in their behalf was a social task which must be shared by the whole community.

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University of Chicago Settlement: 1896

Written by George C. Sikes, University Record, 1896. This document provides a detailed description of the neighborhood in which the University of Chicago located just two years after it was founded. It includes details about employment in the packing house industry, the nationality of the residents and the early programs offered to the neighborhood residents by the staff and residents of the agency.

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Citizenship Survey (1914)

“A Citizenship Survey in Chicago,” by Philip L. Seman for the Chicago Hebrew Institute (1914). “In accordance with the original suggestion made two years ago at the Baltimore conference, the Chicago Hebrew Institute began a house-to-house survey, the object being to ascertain the citizenship status of the residents as well as their literacy, particularly with reference to English.”

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American Prison Association: Constitution

The American Correctional Association has championed the cause of corrections and correctional effectiveness for over 140 years. Founded in 1870 as the National Prison Association, ACA is the oldest association developed specifically for practitioners in the correctional profession. During the first organizational meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, the assembly elected then-Ohio Governor and future President Rutherford B. Hayes as the first President of the Association.

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Chicago’s Early Settlement Houses Heritage

“The Heritage from Chicago’s Early Settlement Houses: 1967,” by Louis C. Wade. “The contrast between progress and poverty in American life was obvious in the 1880s and glaring by the 1890s. Violent confrontations like the Haymarket riot and the Homestead and Pullman strikes served to illuminate the dangerous chasm, which separated the very rich from the very poor.”

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University of Chicago Settlement Project

This report was written by a “resident” of the Chicago Settlement in 1925 or 1926, thirty years after the founding of the organization. It includes observations of Mary McDowell, the original Head Worker, and compares her work and vision with the then current programs. The author also gives his and perspective of the other residents, paid staff, and volunteers who lived and worked in the agency.

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Florence Crittenton Homes: A History

The purposes of this home were to reform “fallen women” and preach salvation and hope to and provide shelter for unmarried, pregnant women and girls. With the success of the Bleeker Street mission, Crittenton became a traveling evangelist, preaching in particular to prostitutes and the unwed mothers. As a result of his efforts, “Crittenton Homes” that provided rescue services and shelter to unwed mothers in an atmosphere permeated by Christian evangelism were established throughout the United States beginning in 1892.

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Company Unions and the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Article by Louis Adamic, The Nation, 1934. “In brief, the A. F. of L. union skates are utilizing, exploiting the workers’ hate for company unions, stirring and intensifying it, focusing their thoughts and feelings on the company-union evil, exaggerating the power of company unionism, in order to keep them blind to the faults and shortcomings of the A. F. of L. organizations.”

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