Henry Street Settlement
Encyclopedia
The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side
neighborhood of Manhattan
, New York City
that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founded in 1893 by Progressive reformer Lillian Wald
.
The Settlement serves about 50,000 people each year. Clients include low-income individuals and families, survivors of domestic violence, youngsters ages 2 through 21, individuals with mental and physical health challenges, senior citizens, and arts and culture enthusiasts who attend performances, classes and exhibitions at Henry Street’s Abrons Arts Center
.
The Settlement’s administrative offices are still located in its original (c. 1832) federal row houses at 263, 265 and 267 Henry Street
in Manhattan
. Services are offered at 17 program sites throughout the area, many of them located in buildings operated by the New York City Housing Authority
.
The Settlement's buildings at 263, 265 and 267 Henry Street were designated New York City landmarks in 1966, and these buildings, along with the Neighborhood Playhouse building at 466 Grand Street, were collectively designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1989.
, a 25-year-old nurse then enrolled in the Women’s Medical College, volunteered to teach a class on home health care for immigrant women at the Louis Technical School on the Lower East Side. One day, she was approached by a young girl who kept repeating "mommy ... baby ... blood". Wald gathered some sheets from her bed-making lesson and followed the child to her home, a cramped two-room tenement apartment. Inside, she found the child’s mother who had recently given birth and in need of health care. The doctor tending to her had left because she could not afford to pay him. This was Wald’s first experience with poverty; she called the episode her "baptism by fire" and dedicated herself to bringing nursing care, and eventually education and access to the arts, to the immigrant poor on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The next year she founded the Nurses' Settlement, which later changed its name to the Henry Street Settlement.
Two years later, in 1895, Jacob Schiff
, a banker and philanthropist
purchased the Federal style
townhouse at 265 Henry Street for the new organization to use. The building was expanded upwards with an additional story to provide more space, and Schiff donated the building to the Settlement in 1903. The year before, the Settlement had added new facilities, including a gymnasium at 299, 301 and 303 Henry Street.
The organization expanded again in 1906, when Morris Loeb bought the building at 267 Henry Street for it to use. This Greek Revival
townhouse was purchased from the Hebrew Technical School for Girls, which had previously employed the architectural firm of Buchman & Fox in 1900 to redo the facade in Colonial Revival style
.
In 1915, the Neighborhood Playhouse
, one of the first "Little Theatres"
, was created by the sisters Alice
and Irene
Lewisohn at the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets, offering classical drama for the people of the area. The theatre still operates, as the Harry De Jur Playhouse. In 1927 the Henry Street Music School began operation.
The Settlement began leasing the townhouse at 263 Henry Street, on the other side of its original building, in 1938, using it for classrooms and residences, and in 1949 it purchased the building, which was originally built in the Federal style but had been extensively altered. This combining of the three townhouse – 263, 265 and 267 – had the consequence of preserving part of the 1820s streetscape amid what later became a crowded tenement district. The block of Henry Street between Montgomery Street and Grand Street
, which also includes St. Augustine's Church, gives an impression of uptown Manhattan as it would have looked in the 1820s and 1830s. #263 Henry Street was restored in 1989 and #265 in 1992.
Today, Henry Street is known for its pioneering efforts in social service and health care delivery. Its innovations included the establishment of one of New York City’s first off-street playgrounds (1902); funding the first public school nurse (1902); starting the Visiting Nurse Service, which became independent as the Visiting Nurse Service of New York
in 1944; opening one of the nation’s first mental health clinics (1946), one of the first transitional housing facilities for the homeless (1972), the first Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) in public housing (1994) and the city’s first Safe Haven shelter for homeless women (2007).
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founded in 1893 by Progressive reformer Lillian Wald
Lillian Wald
Lillian D. Wald was a nurse; social worker; public health official; teacher; author; editor; publisher; activist for peace, women's, children's and civil rights; and the founder of American community nursing...
.
The Settlement serves about 50,000 people each year. Clients include low-income individuals and families, survivors of domestic violence, youngsters ages 2 through 21, individuals with mental and physical health challenges, senior citizens, and arts and culture enthusiasts who attend performances, classes and exhibitions at Henry Street’s Abrons Arts Center
Abrons Arts Center
The Abrons Arts Center is the performing and visual arts program of Henry Street Settlement. It mounts exhibitions and productions in music, dance and theater and provides arts training for children and adults....
.
The Settlement’s administrative offices are still located in its original (c. 1832) federal row houses at 263, 265 and 267 Henry Street
Henry Street (Manhattan)
Henry Street is a street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City that runs in a northeasterly direction one-way eastbound from Oliver Street in the south and west, passing underneath the Manhattan Bridge and on to Grand Street in the north and east. The street is named for Henry...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Services are offered at 17 program sites throughout the area, many of them located in buildings operated by the New York City Housing Authority
New York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority provides public housing for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments...
.
The Settlement's buildings at 263, 265 and 267 Henry Street were designated New York City landmarks in 1966, and these buildings, along with the Neighborhood Playhouse building at 466 Grand Street, were collectively designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1989.
History
In 1892, Lillian WaldLillian Wald
Lillian D. Wald was a nurse; social worker; public health official; teacher; author; editor; publisher; activist for peace, women's, children's and civil rights; and the founder of American community nursing...
, a 25-year-old nurse then enrolled in the Women’s Medical College, volunteered to teach a class on home health care for immigrant women at the Louis Technical School on the Lower East Side. One day, she was approached by a young girl who kept repeating "mommy ... baby ... blood". Wald gathered some sheets from her bed-making lesson and followed the child to her home, a cramped two-room tenement apartment. Inside, she found the child’s mother who had recently given birth and in need of health care. The doctor tending to her had left because she could not afford to pay him. This was Wald’s first experience with poverty; she called the episode her "baptism by fire" and dedicated herself to bringing nursing care, and eventually education and access to the arts, to the immigrant poor on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The next year she founded the Nurses' Settlement, which later changed its name to the Henry Street Settlement.
Two years later, in 1895, Jacob Schiff
Jacob Schiff
Jacob Henry Schiff, born Jakob Heinrich Schiff was a German-born Jewish American banker and philanthropist, who helped finance, among many other things, the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.From his base on Wall Street, he was the foremost Jewish leader...
, a banker and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
purchased the Federal style
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
townhouse at 265 Henry Street for the new organization to use. The building was expanded upwards with an additional story to provide more space, and Schiff donated the building to the Settlement in 1903. The year before, the Settlement had added new facilities, including a gymnasium at 299, 301 and 303 Henry Street.
The organization expanded again in 1906, when Morris Loeb bought the building at 267 Henry Street for it to use. This Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
townhouse was purchased from the Hebrew Technical School for Girls, which had previously employed the architectural firm of Buchman & Fox in 1900 to redo the facade in Colonial Revival style
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
.
In 1915, the Neighborhood Playhouse
Neighborhood Playhouse
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is an actor training school at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner.-History:...
, one of the first "Little Theatres"
Little Theatre Movement
As the new medium of cinema was beginning to replace theatre as a source of large-scale spectacle, the Little Theatre Movement developed in the United States around 1912...
, was created by the sisters Alice
Alice Lewisohn
Alice Lewisohn was the founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse with her sister Irene Lewisohn. Alice was also an actress.-Biography:...
and Irene
Irene Lewisohn
Irene Lewisohn was the founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Museum of Costume Art.-Biography:She was the daughter of Rosalie Jacobs and Leonard Lewisohn. In 1905 she and her sister, Alice Lewisohn, began classes and club work at the Henry Street Settlement House in New York. They produced...
Lewisohn at the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets, offering classical drama for the people of the area. The theatre still operates, as the Harry De Jur Playhouse. In 1927 the Henry Street Music School began operation.
The Settlement began leasing the townhouse at 263 Henry Street, on the other side of its original building, in 1938, using it for classrooms and residences, and in 1949 it purchased the building, which was originally built in the Federal style but had been extensively altered. This combining of the three townhouse – 263, 265 and 267 – had the consequence of preserving part of the 1820s streetscape amid what later became a crowded tenement district. The block of Henry Street between Montgomery Street and Grand Street
Grand Street (Manhattan)
Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....
, which also includes St. Augustine's Church, gives an impression of uptown Manhattan as it would have looked in the 1820s and 1830s. #263 Henry Street was restored in 1989 and #265 in 1992.
Today, Henry Street is known for its pioneering efforts in social service and health care delivery. Its innovations included the establishment of one of New York City’s first off-street playgrounds (1902); funding the first public school nurse (1902); starting the Visiting Nurse Service, which became independent as the Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Visiting Nurse Service of New York is the largest and oldest not-for-profit home health care provider in the United States.Lillian Wald, the founder of VNSNY, began making home nursing visits in 1893....
in 1944; opening one of the nation’s first mental health clinics (1946), one of the first transitional housing facilities for the homeless (1972), the first Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) in public housing (1994) and the city’s first Safe Haven shelter for homeless women (2007).
Services
Henry Street Settlement currently offers:- Housing - Four homeless shelters, including one for domestic violence survivors, and supportive permanent housing for formerly homeless individuals with mental health issues.
- Senior Programs - a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, the Good Companions Senior Center, a Senior Companion Program and a Meals-on-Wheels program.
- Youth Programs - Day care centers, after-school services, college prep programs, youth employment, GED classes, sports and recreation programs, a peer HIV prevention program, and summer day camp.
- Workforce Development Center - Job training and placement, customized staffing services.
- Health and Wellness Services – State-licensed mental and primary care clinics, psychological counseling, continuing day treatment program, a parent center, HIV family services, and home housekeeping services.
- Neighborhood Resource Center - A walk-in facility for benefits screening, legal counseling and access to affordable health insurance.
- Abrons Arts CenterAbrons Arts CenterThe Abrons Arts Center is the performing and visual arts program of Henry Street Settlement. It mounts exhibitions and productions in music, dance and theater and provides arts training for children and adults....
– Located at 466 Grand Street, the Abrons offers arts instruction (dance, music, visual arts and theater) at affordable prices to children and adults and offers performances in three theaters, including the c. 1915 playhouse. It also has visual arts exhibitions, Artist-in-Residence workspaces, an Arts-in-Education program, and two summer camps (arts and architecture).