Social Settlement Aims.
Miss Jane Addams of Hull House spoke in the Kenwood Evangelical church last night, on social settlements, says the Chicago News. Miss Addams reviewed the English system and said its chief characteristic was diversity. "A new settlement is not a success in England" said Miss Addams, "unless it is different from every other settlement. If it is not different it is an institution and has no place in the social settlement work. At the same time diversity in aim offers many advantages, because different motives strike different people. The chief difference between the English and American settlement work is that here we have to overcome the disadvantages of working with different nationalities and languages. Cultivated persons can understand these disadvantages, because they can converse with and understand these people with whom we have to deal. On the other hand, the merely learned man neither comes in contact with them nor does he know how to do so when it is necessary. The aim of settlement work is to break down this social barrier, to help all to meet on a human social basis. If we can throw off the rigidity in our social life and begin anew on a broad basis we will gain a new zest and breadth of life."
Comments