“Clinton Hall, patronized by
four to five hundred thousand people a year was
created to furnish decent gathering places for labor
people, as well as for social occasions. Until it was
opened, honest, sober, and dignified working people
had been practically dependent upon the saloons for
their meeting places.”
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Wald envisioned the Henry Street
Settlement as an opportunity to unite “people through their human and spiritual
interests.” As a result, the Settlement
continually expanded to meet the needs of its community. In
1904, Henry Street built Clinton Hall, a public meeting and
social space.
Continually expanding the range of its services, the Settlement's
nursing, club work, and dramatic activities were supplemented
with vocational training for boys and girls, a library and
study, and a savings bank. In the early 1900s, the
Settlement also opened branches in and around Manhattan and
the Bronx, some specifically designed to serve the Italian,
Hungarian, and African-American communities. By 1903,
eighteen district nursing service centers treated 4500
patients a year. Sick women, children, and workers were
sent to Settlement "convalescent" homes on the Hudson River,
and children took summer field trips to a Settlement—owned
farm in Westchester County. |
