Hartley House records

Collection

Identifier: sw0018

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Among the noteworthy sections of the Hartley House records is the extensive correspondence between J. G. Phelps Stokes, a benefactor of and advisor to Hartley House, and the settlement's first head-worker, Helen French Greene, and her successor, May Matthews (folders 11-13). It details issues arising from the sometimes conflicting goals of head workers and benefactors. The collection is also rich in records of certain settlement clubs, particularly the Women's Club, for which there are nearly complete meeting minutes from 1904 to 1946 (folders 52-38). The collection of photographs (folders 98-112) provides visual documentation of settlement and neighborhood life, and the daily calendars kept by the staff offer an unusual record of day-by-day activities in a settlement (folders 85-97).

The corporate records of Hartley House (folders 1-5) include the certificate of incorporation and constitution, annual reports, and minutes of the board of trustees. The correspondence files (folders 6-15) contain general correspondence (folders 6-9) and correspondence with Marcellus Hartley, J. G. Phelps Stokes, the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, and the Wellesley Alumnae Association (folders 10-15). Treasurers’ reports, applications for assistance to the Greater New York Fund, and a ledger and staff salary lists comprise the financial section (folders 16-25). Program records (folders 26-56) contain papers of settlement clubs (folders 26-41), camp-related records from Hartley House farm (folders 42-45), nursery reports and records of children's work (folders 46-49), and anniversary material (folders 50-56).

The records also document Hartley House's interactions with national voluntary organizations (folders 57-60); local voluntary organizations, especially those on New York's West Side (folders 61-74); and New York City agencies (folders 76-77). Other items of interest include the Hartley House Cook Book and Household Economist (folder 78); studies of Hartley House and of Patterson, New Jersey (folders 79-8l); a script for a play about the price of milk (folder 82); and guest books, calendars, and photographs (folders 83-112).

The work of Hartley House was supported by the Hartley House Association, an organization composed of current and former house members and staff who raised funds and promoted house activities. Records of the Hartley House Association (folders 113-118) include minutes, correspondence, financial records, and membership lists dating from 1921 to 1927 (folders 113-115) and records of what was apparently a reactivated form of the Association dating from 1937 to 1959 (folders 116-118).

Also included in the records are legal-size folders containing financial statements, club minutes, scrapbook fragments, and Hartley House Association membership lists; and over-size material, consisting of 2 folios of photographs and 21 weekly activity ledgers. (Oversized storage boxes 13-17)

Selected publications from the Hartley House records have been removed and placed in the Social Welfare History Archives' Pamphlet Collection.

Dates

Creation: 1896-1961

Language of Materials

English

Use of Materials

Open for use in Social Welfare History Archives reading room.

Copyright

Contact the archives for copyright information.

Historical Note

Hartley House was opened by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor on January 1, 1897, and was incorporated as an independent organization in 1903. Establishment of Hartley House was the result of a gradually increasing feeling among the managers of the Association that "if the homes of the poor could be made more comfortable and attractive, and the home lives more sufficient, there would be less cause for family dissensions and dissolutions, less seeking of the saloons by the men, less misery and wretchedness for the women, more happiness in the tenement districts, and less evil in the community."

According to the Association, Hartley House was to be a small "homemaking" school, where poor girls could be taught to make and keep an attractive, neat home - - not only for their own, but also for the benefit of their families, husbands, brothers, and friends. It was also the intention of the founders to bring the upper classes into the settlement to contribute volunteer work which, it was believed, would benefit both the poor and the wealthy. Marcellus Hartley, a New York businessman and philanthropist, donated one of the settlement's buildings in honor of this father, Robert M. Hartley, and another as a memorial to his daughter, Grace Hartley Stokes.

From its beginnings, the settlement carried on the usual range of activities, from children's classes to cooking lessons. Programs included a system of work relief, where unemployed neighbors were put to work in special industrial rooms. Hartley House's services were direct responses to the needs of its neighbors, and changing needs over the years were met by innovative programming. As the ethnic composition of the neighborhood changed from what was largely an Irish and German population in 1897 to one that reflected an even more cosmopolitan society, programs were expanded to include health services, English language classes, and additional summer activities.

Extent

5.5 Linear Feet (118 folders, 5 legal folders, 23 folios)

Additional Description

Abstract

Hartley House, a settlement on Manhatttan's West Side, was opened in 1897. Over the years, the settlement attempted to improve living conditions in the area through programs such as children's classes, cooking and homemaking lessons, health services, English language classes, and work relief. The records contain, among other materials, correspondence, materials from various clubs at the settlement, photographs, and files relating to other organizations with which Hartley House worked.

Arrangement

Series 1. Corporate Records
Series 2. Correspondence
Series 3. Financial Records
Series 4. Material Regarding House Programs and Related Functions
Series 5. Relations with Other Organizations
Series 6. Publications and Public Relations
Series 7. Hartley House Association

Other Finding Aid

Unpublished inventory available. Please contact the Archives for more information.

Acquisition Information

The Hartley House records were permanently deposited by Gladys McPeek, the settlement's director, at the Social Welfare History Archives Center in 1969. The Center staff processed the collection during the summer of 1970.

Related Materials

Researchers interested in studying Hartley House should also review the guide to the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers recordsin the Social Welfare History Archives. The records contains files on Hartley House dating from 1949-1970, material related to the 15th anniversary of Hartley House in 1912, and early annual reports dating from 1897 to 1902.