SOURCE: "Social and Artistic Integration: The Emergence of Hull-House Theatre," in Theatre Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2, May, 1982, pp. 172-82.

In the following essay, Hecht reviews the history of the Hull-House Theatre, including political clashes over its administration.

Chicago's Hull-House Theatre developed specifically to combat the corrupting influences of urban tenement life. In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr purchased a mansion in the city's rough Southwest section and there created the "Hull-House" settlement, a social and educational center for the largely immigrant community. The neighborhood reflected the worst of late 19th century urban conditions. Hull-House served a patchwork of ethnic neighborhoods riddled by poverty, crime, and social problems caused by efforts to acculturate. Jane Addams saw Hull-House as an educational forum, a place for the exchange of ideas and knowledge among the classes for the purpose of bridging social divisions caused by industrialism. This study will examine the process...