Details

Inclusive Dates

1896 - 1990

Linear Feet

34.0

Finding Aid Url

Direct Link

The Hudson Guild Records document the institution from its origins in the 1890s, when it organized clubs for Chelsea boys, to its work a century later, when it provided a wide range of social services to West Side residents. They offer a unique view of the first wave of the settlement house movement in America, and document social conditions, demographic change, political activity, and philanthropy in New York City. The origins and early history of Hudson Guild House are best documented in Series 1 and III. Board of Directors minutes show the development of programs by John Lovejoy Elliott and his associates from 1896 to 1911, and are supplemented by annual reports reviewing a wide range of settlement activities for scattered years from 1910 through the 1920s. Unfortunately, there is a major gap in the Board of Directors minutes from 1911 to 1938. News clippings and promotional materials in Series III, items contained in scrapbooks in Series V, and reports in Series IV partially fill this gap. The resumed chronology of Board of Directors minutes provides the most comprehensive view of Hudson Guild activities from the late 1930s through the 1970s. These minutes are complemented by Hudson Guild Council files which document the attitudes and level of involvement of the settlement's neighbors in its day to day functioning and programs during the 1960s and 1970s. The beginning stages of urban renewal in Chelsea and its impact on the Hudson Guild community are documented by records in Series II and III. These include records of other community organizations with which the settlement was affiliated during the 1950s and 1960s. Series IV contains proposals and reports which provide insight on the development of settlement policies and programs in response to demographic changes in the neighborhood during the same period. Researchers should also see the Dan Carpenter Papers for more information on this period. All of these records are complemented by audio-visual materials including photoprints, slides and motion picture film showing a variety of activities at Hudson Guild from the early 1900s to the 1990s. Additional archival materials related to the Hudson Guild Records are included in the Dan Carpenter Papers, as well as in the archival collections of the Ethical Culture Society.

Sites of Teaching & Learning

These sites of teaching & learning mention the Hudson Guild Records

Location

• Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University
  Temporary