Ada S. McKinley: A Hidden History of African American Settlement House in Chicago

Abstract

Previous research on the history of the settlement house movement and the park and recreation profession has been dominated by celebrations of White social reformers such as Jane Addams. The stories of African American social reformers and their settlement houses have received little to no attention not only from leisure and recreation scholars, but also from the broader academic community. Using historiography and genealogy, we challenge the existing narrative and highlight the biography, activities, and legacy of Ada S. McKinley, an African American social reformer who founded the South Side Settlement House in Chicago during the first half of the twentieth century. A comparative analysis of McKinley and Addams was also conducted to promote a more nuanced understanding of their historical significance. We conclude with a summary of McKinley’s contribution to the field of park and recreation and calls for more research on her and other forgotten pioneers of color.

Keywords:

• Ada S. McKinley
• Jane Addams
• recreation
• South Side Settlement House

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 One of the misconceptions about Hull-House is that the poor lived at Hull-House. Hull-House’s location, the Nineteenth Ward of Chicago, was purposely chosen because Addams, in following the settlement house movement, wanted to provide services in a slum district among poor people and engage in social action on behalf of the poor living nearby. The people who lived at Hull-House were the volunteer residents (e.g., Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, Julia Lathrop) who paid a monthly fee that contributed to the general Hull-House budget.

2 The difference between a community house and a settlement house is that the latter has a head residents or residents who live in the house all the time while the former does not. Thus, a settlement house can provide service beyond a normal business hours while a community opens only part of the day. A settlement house usually offers more diverse programs than a community house.

3 According to inflation calculators, $800 in 1949 equals to approximately $8,530.26 in 2020

4 Ida B. Wells was a leader of civil rights movement during the early 1900s and founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.