Minneapolis Federation of Settlements records

The Minneapolis Settlement House movement began in the late 19th century. Desperate living conditions, similar to those that motivated Jane Addams and Lillian Wald to found Hull House and the Henry Street Settlement, led to the foundation of organizations to address the needs of impoverished citizens in Minneapolis and St. Paul. A growing immigrant population, as well as those moving from rural areas to the inner city, faced overcrowded housing, poor sanitation, unemployment, discrimination, and crime. Thousands needed access to the goods and services necessary to afford an improved standard of living. The goals of the Minneapolis settlements were to better living conditions, "strengthen family life," create "a feeling of neighborliness," develop "indigenous leadership," and integrate local neighborhoods into the larger community.

The first settlement in Minneapolis, Plymouth Mission, was started by Plymouth Congregational Church in 1879 and was later renamed Bethel Settlement. In 1905, brothers John and Charles Pillsbury donated funds to expand the facility and the new Pillsbury House opened in 1906. In 1897, Unity House was established by Dr. Marion Shutter, inspired by a visit to Toynbee Hall in London. Following the turn of the century, eight more settlements would be opened: Wells Memorial House (1907), the Margaret Barry House (1912), the Edward F. Waite House and Emmanuel Cohen Center (1913), North East Neighborhood House (1915), Southside Neighborhood House (1922), and the Phyllis Wheatley House (1930).

As the cultural, economic, and political structures of neighborhoods changed in the decade of the 1960s, so did the goals and objectives of the settlement houses.

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