Henry Booth House records

Biography/Profile

The Henry Booth House was established in Chicago in May 1898 by the Ethical Humanist Society and named for the Society's first president, Judge Henry Booth. The Henry Booth House's founders sought to improve living conditions in the surrounding neighborhood, promote good citizenship, strengthen family life and the sense of community, and also to enrich the lives of the House's staff. The Ethical Humanist Society Board of Trustees later reorganized the Henry Booth House as a separate not-for-profit corporation in 1914.

Henry Booth House was first located at 135 West 14th Place. Allen Bartlett Pond designed a new facility at the 701 West 14th Place site in 1905. The settlement served a diverse and ever changing neighborhood with Irish and German area residents in its early period followed by Czechs, Russians, Jews, Poles, Lithuanians, Italians, and other new immigrants. By 1949, the neighborhood surrounding Henry Booth House was almost entirely populated by African-Americans. The extension of the Congress expressway through the area, an overall decline in population, and competition from other settlement houses threatened the central purpose of the Henry Booth House.

The Chicago Housing Authority asked the Henry Booth House to relocate to the Harold L. Ickes and Dearborn Homes at 2328 and 2910 South Dearborn Street in 1955. The settlement house was to serve the residents of public housing units in exchange for subsidies from the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). The Henry Booth House could then rent its facilities for $1 per year and the CHA would pay for all repairs, painting, and utilities. Henry Booth House became affiliated with the Hull House Association in 1962 and added the Hull House Underground Theatre to its list of services for community residents. The Henry Booth House later relocated to 2450 S. State Street and as an active participant in several federally funded programs sought to improve the education, health, and general living conditions of community residents on Chicago's Near South side.