‘Growing up with a City’: Exploring Settlement Youth Work in London and Chicago, c. 1880–1940

The first university settlements were founded in East London in 1884,bringing young graduates to the area to live and to work for the benefit of impoverished local communities. The settlement model was soon adopted by social reformers around the world. This article considers the question of whether settlements should be seen by historians as a coherent body with shared values, or as institutions whose character and interests were uniquely shaped by their local neighbourhoods — and thus what the study of individual settlements can contribute to our understanding of working class life in East London and elsewhere. This is examined through a comparative study of settlements in London and Chicago and their work with children and young people. This article also considers how settlements attempted to develop associational cultures and social capital among children and young people.