Denison House (Boston) facts for kids
Denison House was a special place in Boston. It was a settlement house run by women. It opened in 1892 in the old South Cove area. This house helped many people, especially immigrants, by offering social and educational programs.
Many famous women worked at Denison House. These included Emily Greene Balch, who won a Nobel Prize. Also, Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, a labor organizer, and the famous pilot Amelia Earhart worked there. Today, the original building at 93 Tyler Street is part of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. This trail celebrates important places for women's history in Boston.
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History of Denison House
How Denison House Started
Denison House began in 1892. It was one of the first branches of the College Settlements Association (CSA). Cornelia Warren donated the house. The CSA was started in 1887 by women from Wellesley College. These women included Emily Greene Balch, Vida Scudder, and Katharine Lee Bates.
The house was named after Edward Denison. He was an English reformer who believed in living among poor people to help them. Emily Greene Balch admired Jane Addams, who started Hull House in Chicago. Denison House was like Hull House. Its goal was to offer education and help to Boston's poor. It also aimed to bring people from different backgrounds together. The women believed this would help democracy. They wanted "a free flowing life between group and group."
The first Denison House was at 93 Tyler Street. It was a red brick house. Soon, it needed more space. The house next door was added. By the 1920s, Denison House used five connected houses. They all shared one entrance at number 93. Emily Greene Balch was the first leader of the house. She worked there for a short time before going back to teaching.
Helping the Community (1893–1912)
Helena Dudley became the new leader in 1893. She stayed until 1912. She arrived during a tough economic time called the Panic of 1893. Dudley quickly made Denison House a place to get help. They gave out important things like milk and coal.
Under Dudley, Denison House became a key community center. It offered many classes. People could learn nursing, English, crafts, cooking, and carpentry. There were also sports and a summer camp for kids. Adults could join clubs. The house had a library, a gym, and a health clinic. Dudley also worked with Robert Archey Woods from South End House. Together, they held art shows and worked to improve housing. They also pushed for public bathhouses and gyms.
Many people who came to Denison House were immigrants. They were encouraged to share their culture. They held festivals and craft shows. One show in 1917 displayed crafts from Italian, Syrian, Greek, and Armenian artists. These items were made from old designs. The show was very successful, and many items were sold. Teen boys from the Denison House drama club performed Shakespeare plays. They raised money for repairs and got good reviews in the Boston Globe newspaper.
Mary Kenney O'Sullivan, a labor organizer, lived at Denison House in the 1890s. She lived there with her family. O'Sullivan, Dudley, and Scudder helped start the Women's Trade Union League in 1903. This group worked to improve conditions for women workers. Mary Morton Kehew was the treasurer of Denison House. She was also president of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.
Helena Dudley spoke about what they learned at Denison House. She said they saw women making shirts for very low pay. This made them interested in helping workers form unions. Many worker unions met regularly at Denison House. In 1904, Dudley hosted Catherine Breshkovsky, a Russian activist, for several weeks.
In 1912, Dudley and O'Sullivan helped two strike leaders. Joseph Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti were arrested during the 1912 Lawrence textile strike. Dudley and O'Sullivan paid their bail. Another Denison House worker, Vida Scudder, also supported the striking workers. She gave a well-known speech at a strike meeting. Some wealthy people who donated to Denison House did not like its support for worker unions. It became hard to raise money. Because of this, both Dudley and Scudder had to leave their jobs.
Amelia Earhart's Time (1912–1942)
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Before she became a famous pilot, Amelia Earhart was a social worker at Denison House. She started working there in 1926. By late 1927, she worked full-time at 93 Tyler Street. She stayed until her famous flight in the Friendship in June 1928.
Amelia drove her yellow Kissel Speedster car from Medford, Massachusetts. During the week, she taught classes and visited families. On weekends, she flew planes. By this time, more Chinese immigrants lived in the neighborhood. Earhart was in charge of adult education. She also managed programs for girls. She started women's clubs, like the Syrian Mothers Club. She also coached girls' basketball and fencing.
In 1927, she flew over Boston and Cambridge. She dropped leaflets to advertise a Denison House fundraiser. The next year, she went to a conference for settlement houses in Boston. She impressed many leaders there. They thought she was "one of the most promising social workers of her generation."
Changes and Legacy (1942–Present)
In 1942, Denison House moved to Dorchester. It used different buildings there. In 1949, it moved into the old Howard Avenue School. In 1965, Denison House joined with other local houses. They formed the Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses (FDNH). This group later became College Bound Dorchester in 2010. The original Denison House site on Tyler Street is now apartment buildings. It is a stop on the Chinatown/South Cove walk of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
Influence on Others
Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch was a city planner and social worker. She met Helena Dudley and visited Denison House while in Boston. This visit greatly influenced Simkhovitch. In 1902, she started Greenwich House in New York City. This settlement house is still open today.
The poet Kahlil Gibran and his younger relative, the sculptor Kahlil Gibran, lived nearby as children. They often visited Denison House. It was there that the elder Gibran met Fred Holland Day. Day was an artist and publisher from Boston. He encouraged Gibran in his creative work. The younger Gibran later remembered seeing Amelia Earhart at the house. He recalled her wearing riding pants and driving her bright yellow car.
See also
