The Baden Street Settlement records were received as a gift from the Baden Street Settlement in August, 1966.
Arrangement and description of the records was completed by Loren Crabtree in 1967. Conversion of the original finding aid for online display was completed in 2007.
Open for use in Social Welfare History Archives reading room.
Please contact the Archives for copyright information.
Unpublished inventory available. Please contact the Archives for more information.
The Settlement's Board of Directors and Executive Committee minutes, 1901-1964, are also available on microfilm (SWFilm 5).
The National Federation of Settlements (sw0056) records in the Social Welfare History Archives contain about six files on Baden Street dating from 1935 to 1956 and 1955 to 1969.
Organized in 1901 as a non-sectarian, neighborhood center, the Baden Street Settlement traces its origins to the work of the women of the B'rith Kodesh Temple on Gibbs Street in Rochester, New York. The group felt a social responsibility to teach immigrant women the basic tasks and responsibilities of life in the United States. Their emphasis was on the practical, necessities of homemaking -- gardening, sewing, elementary education and child-rearing -- and this practical remained central to the work of the settlement throughout the early decades of the 20th Century. In 1901, the women of B'rith Kodesh Temple, led by Therese R. Katz and Fannie A. Carson, decided to expand their work into the wider community. They formed "The Social Settlement of Rochester," which became Baden Street Settlement in 1922.
From its beginnings, the guiding philosophy of the settlement was "beneficent pragmatism," the adaptation of its scope of service to fit the changing needs of the community. Its program grew from homemaking classes, Sunshine Clubs (to encourage social life), and intellectual stimulation (Shakespeare clubs, current topics courses, and German clubs) to include social and athletic clubs for boys and girls, an informal kindergarten, public bath facilities, and operation of a "milk station" to supply clean milk to neighborhood infants and children, and a Day Care Center. By the early 1950s, the settlement had a Health Center, and programs in casework and group work. Along the way, the settlement sponsored and/or participated in unemployment relief, community social action and reform through such agencies as the Community Chest and urban renewal associations, and the promotion of literacy through adult education.
Throughout its existence, the Baden Street Settlement responded to the changing character of its neighborhood and the larger aspects of social welfare in America. Thus, the Settlement studied the effect of the gradual influx of African Americans into the area and adjusted its program accordingly. Correspondingly, with the growth of public welfare programs, Baden Street recognized the necessity of cooperating with the public agencies and shifting certain practice areas to the public sector. In the gradual evolution of programs and policies, the settlement workers and their supporters emphasized the importance of the family unit in healthful living and followed the classic goals of settlement houses in America: (l) the enrichment of neighborhoods, (2) the strengthening of entire family units, (3) the promotion of legislative and social action to solve social problems, (4) the development of neighborhood leadership and the strengthening of neighborhood ties with the wider community, (5) the overcoming of prejudice and ignorance, and (6) the inculcation of democratic attitudes.
In the post-World War II era, the settlement attacked the problems of bad housing, inadequate education, unemployment, discrimination, cultural deprivation, and hopelessness, with a program of social action including such enterprises as a speech clinic, school readiness program, music instruction, tutoring service, careers club, employment service, instruction and aid for unwed mothers, and a volunteer case-aide program in casework.
The Presidents of the Board of Directors and the Executive Directors
listed below were the key figures in the leadership of the settlement:
For information on these and other members of the Board of Directors, the researcher should consult the minutes of the Board, the Executive Committee, and other committees of the settlement.
The Baden Street Settlement records are arranged into four series:
In August, 1966, the records of Baden Street Settlement were deposited in the Social Welfare History Archives of the University of Minnesota Libraries. The records, which comprise 5 linear feet, were processed in the spring of 1967 in the Archives.
The Baden Street Settlement records include minutes from Board of Directors' meetings and Executive Committee meeting minutes concerning day-to-day operations. They also include program reports from other committees, annual reports, case reports, and commentary on the impact of the Great Depression, World War I and World War II, race riots, and other events. Nearly half of the collection consists of statistical reports on programs and activities that were submitted to the Rochester Community Chest and Council and to the National Federation of Settlements. The Settlement's Board of Directors and Executive Committee minutes, 1901-1964, are also available on microfilm (SWF5).
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The Board met to consider routine operating matters, such as reports of the activities of the day nursery, treasurers’ reports, membership campaigns, committees for the operation of the settlement, eulogies for deceased friends of the settlement, resolutions on financial and social-political problems. The minutes therefore contain reports of other committees, eulogies and their responses, miscellaneous resolutions and memoranda, personnel codes and regulations, occasional correspondence, data about the 1956-1957 self-survey, By-laws and changes in the settlement’s legal operations, budget statements, and policy statements regarding the operation and use of settlement facilities. See also legal-size folder 1.
The Committee met irregularly, sometimes once a month and occasionally weekly. It made decisions related directly to the daily operation of the settlement, including such matters as personnel, reports of other committees and individuals, finances, committee lists, correspondence with other social welfare personnel. Between 1937 and 1950, the Executive Committee met monthly, except for the summer months when it did not meet. After January, 1951, the record of the meetings is very incomplete.
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The Baden-Ormond area was in a state of transition circa 1960 due to an urban renewal project. Consequently, the settlement had to rethink its programs and policies. This folder contains studies and recommendations on such subjects as health care, nursery facilities, educating the neighborhood residents, casework, urban renewal, use of public funds in settlement work, the 1964 Rochester riots, the Economic Opportunity Program, priorities in adjustment, and structural rearrangement.
The committee met monthly to consider the various activities of the settlement (e.g., camping, Girl Scouts, leadership training) and to present recommendations to the Board of Directors. The folder contains minutes of these meetings.
Minutes of monthly meetings regarding initiating, expanding and controlling casework at Baden Street. Committee members include Irving Kriegsfeld and Reverend Quintin Prime.
The committee met irregularly, often in joint session with other committees such as maintenance and personnel. As a result, the minutes of these committees sometimes overlap. Statistical analyses and budget reports. Decisions about spending policies. Includes financial data and communications about Baden Street and the Community Chest of Rochester and Monroe County.
The Group Work Committee records relate primarily to work with children and youth.
Minutes of meetings. Data re: budgets, special programs, routine programs.
Minutes of monthly meetings are relatively complete for 1953 to 1955, but there is only one report for 1955 to 1959. Concerned with the day-to-day details of the program.
Minutes of the regular monthly meetings, dealing with routine operating matters, statistical reports, and other topics.
Incomplete run of the minutes of the Baden Street Settlement Health Center. Reports to the Board of Directors. Reports of the inspection of facilities by New York State Department of Social Welfare. Includes state charter, rules and regulations, statistical reports, correspondence regarding staff selection.
Minutes of the committee, which functioned as an advocacy group representing the needs of the settlement in relation to proposed federal and state legislation.
Occasional minutes of the following committees: arrangements, building, survey, and nominating.
Minutes of meetings concerned with urban renewal, housing, the settlement’s role in the neighborhood, problems of inner city neighborhoods, city planning, and other topics.
Minutes of monthly meetings, including information regarding summer day camps, enrollment, personnel, special programs, and other routine operating details.
Known from 1952 to 1962 as the Consultation Committee, the committee assumed the responsibilities of the Case Work Committee and also functioned as a general supervisory committee assisting the other committees of the settlement, Contains an incomplete run of the minutes of the monthly meetings.
Includes minutes of meetings concerned with staff recruitment, salaries, promotions.
Includes statement of philosophy, minutes of meetings, reports on use of gym facilities.
Minutes of meetings dealing with publicity of the settlement’s work through such means as films, television specials, luncheons, and a 60th anniversary celebration.
Minutes concerned with raising and assigning funds for student scholarships.
Minutes of the meetings of the committee, which exercised general supervision over the work of the settlement.
Series 2 contains an incomplete run of annual reports from 1901 to 1925, with 1903-1904 and 1906-1913 reports missing. Typical annual reports cover the programs and problems of the settlement during each year. Includes: information concerning the settlement’s name change in 1922; a brief history of the settlement from 1901 to 1926; an historical summary of the Dispensary (1944); an historical survey of the settlement, 1901-1949; information the post-World War II "transition" period; a supplementary historical statement covering 1951 to 1962; and a copy of a 1942 "organization and cost survey." Also includes miscellaneous correspondence regarding legal issues. A general annual report is provided, as well as specific reports from the various divisions of the settlement, such as the Nursery and Dispensary. Some statistical reports are embellished by personal experiences. The reports also provide insights into the fiscal and emotional problems caused by the Great Depression; give detailed information on the effect of World War II on the settlement; and reflect issues surrounding the migration of African American residents into the settlement neighborhood circa 1944 to 1952.
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Summary statistics of the operations of the nursery, dispensary, classes and clubs. Also, general reports and annual statistical reports. The reports cover each fiscal year, April-March.
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Monthly record of receipts and disbursements, plus occasional legal documents pertaining to the treasurer and his financial functions.
This is a guide to Agency policies and practices, and contains a variety of forms and policies to be followed and used by Agency workers.
Incomplete run of the staff newsletter. Contains information about events in the life of the settlement.
Copy of a M.Ed thesis dealing with the goals of the settlement and the problems of reaching them. 1964 study prepared by the settlement on African Americans in the United States and the role of the settlement in relations with people of color. Data on the self-survey of 1956-1957, including a handbook of questions, reports from the various subdivisions, resolutions on how to address the settlement’s problems.
Legal documents regarding licensing of the nursery. Statistical summaries, data on proposed legislation, financial statements, correspondence about operation of the Nursery.
The film,
Description of the project, which was designed to provide volunteer assistance for caseworkers who had too heavy a case load. Progress reports detailing the evolution and results of the project.