Delano Social Settlement was founded to serve Evanston children from economically depressed neighborhoods “who have been deprived of ordinary educational advantages.” First Baptist Church provided many of the teachers and the funding for the organization, which had courses in education, Bible study, music, conversational history and kindergarten classes.
History
The Delano Social Settlement was modeled on the settlement houses of Chicago (Hull House, Chicago Commons), but served the white poor, not the immigrant poor. By 1889, traditional settlement work was discontinued and the organization was renamed the “Delano Chapel Association.” First Baptist Church assumed the work of the association in 1906. It was dedicated in 1910 as the Delano Chapel, and focused on moral and religious uplift until 1922.
Importance
Delano was an effort to establish a settlement house in Evanston and meant to extend work of the WCTU in that area on a local level.