Mary McDowell Settlement Records

Letters, speeches, etc. of Mary McDowell, head resident,1894-1936, of the University of Chicago Settlement, which later became known as the Mary McDowell Settlement, and other administrators; board minutes, reports, letters, and financial papers of the settlement. The board minutes contain related reports and letters. Early papers relate to McDowell's social-work career and family; the settlement's objectives, activities, and organization; and to economic and social conditions in the Packingtown area, especially during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Considerable data on labor conditions at the stockyards and on unemployment is present, along with information on immigrant groups in Chicago, chiefly those of Slavic and Mexican descent. The papers contain many items on recreational facilities operated by the settlement for adults and children and about mothers clubs and other clubs that met at the settlement.

Finding aid: http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/M-M/McDowell.htm

Mary McDowell Settlement Records

University of Chicago Settlement Papers (JAPM)