Manuscripts Collection
The North East Neighborhood House is the successor to Immanuel Sunday School Mission, an organization established by the Reverend Rueben A. Torrey, pastor of the Open Door Congregational Church, during the 1880s. Between 1900 and 1914, the mission, renamed Drummond Hall, was supported by the Plymouth Congregational Church and the Trinity Baptist Church. As a result of the influx of immigrants from the Slavic countries, the Protestant mission found it difficult to attract members, and the mission closed in 1914. In June 1913 the board of directors of the Drummond Union Mission authorized a survey of northeast Minneapolis to be conducted by the Associated Charities of Minneapolis. The results of the survey, presented to the board in October 1913, recommended that a nonsectarian and nonpartisan neighborhood house be erected in the district. A group of influential people took up this recommendation. The building housing Drummond Hall was remodeled; a head worker, Robbins Gilman, was hired; and on January 20, 1915 the North East Neighborhood House was formally opened at 1429 Second Street N.E. In a few years the activities of the settlement had outgrown its temporary building, and in 1919 the North East Neighborhood House was permanently located at 1929 Second Street N.E.
In 1963 the North East Neighborhood House merged with the Margaret Barry House, a settlement in northeast Minneapolis founded in 1912 by the Minneapolis Legaue of Catholic Women. This new organization, known as East Side Neighborhood Service, reflected the organization's broadened mission of providing services to the entire East Minneapolis community. By 2003, the agency was known as East Side Neighborhood Services, Inc.
Historical information was taken from: Catheryne Cooke Gilman,
The bulk of the collection consists of records of the North East Neighborhood House. There is information on the administration of the house; community service programs such as citizenship classes, nursery schools, employment services, and clinics; responses to World Wars I and II and the 1930s depression; and relationships with such social service organizations as the Minneapolis Council of Social Agencies, the National Federation of Settlements, the Twin City Federation of Settlements, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the YMCA and YWCA, and other youth groups.
Among the correspondents are head worker Robbins Gilman and his wife Catheryne Cooke Gilman, Joseph H. Ball, Lotus D. Coffman, Donald J. Cowling, Hubert H. Humphrey, Walter H. Judd, Ernest Lundeen, Thomas D. Schall, and Stella Louise Wood.
These documents are organized into the following sections:
The records of the Margaret Barry House are located at the Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
An enamel painting (1931) by Maria Sophia Dolnycka has been transferred to the Minnesota Historical Society museum collections. Dolnycka, a young Ukranian artist who taught art to children and resided at the North East Neighborhood House (1920s), sent the painting of the "Good Samaritan" to head worker Robbins Gilman as a gift after she returned to Vienna. A letter (July 16, 1931) from Dolnycka that accompanied the painting is located in the miscellaneous correspondence files.
The Robbins Gilman and family papers are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
Accession number: 9622; 10,650; 15,997
Processed by: Bonnie Beatson Palmquist; Frank Hennessy, 1992; Deborah Kahn, August 2007.
Catalog ID number: 1731938
These boxes contain information on the history and development of Immanuel Mission, Drummond Hall, and the North East Neighborhood House. Also includes data on the district served by the settlement: population, economic conditions, housing, national origins, religious affiliation, employment, and facilities for education and medical treatment.
The papers of the board of directors includes minutes and reports, official correspondence, and board and committee membership lists. Minutes and reports of annual and monthly meetings concern business matters and general activities of the settlement.
The personnel records contain applications for employment and volunteer work at the settlement house, along with information on duties, qualifications, personnel standards, and employment practices. There is a descriptive analysis of staff positions at the house. Minutes of staff meetings, October 1944-April 1948, are included. There are also financial records and audits of the Residents Boarding Fund, 1919-1936.
Monthly and annual reports concern House activities, financial and equipment needs, and related matters. In some reports Gilman comments on social conditions in Minneapolis.
The Head Worker's reports for 1915-1920 are primarily centered upon the needs of the immigrant population in the district served by the settlement house and of the staff, financial assistance, and facilities needed by the house to carry on the program required by the neighborhood population. Projects of particular interest during these early years are concerned with medical treatment; English and citizenship classes for aliens; employment problems; nursery school or day care for children of working mothers; working conditions, especially those of immigrant girls working in restaurants and hotels; establishment and operation of a kindergarten under the direction of Stella L. Wood; prohibition; registration of aliens; registration of men for military service; effects of World War I on the program and activities of the settlement; need for new buildings; meetings of the National Conference of Social Work; and the difficulty of allaying the fears and suspicions of a predominately Catholic neighborhood in accepting the North East Neighborhood House as a nonsectarian group.
Reports for 1930-1939 detail the effects of the depression on the settlement house program and upon the people residing in the district; many comments on the demands placed on the house as a result of unemployment, inadequate incomes, and poor living conditions; and classes and assistance offered by the settlement during the depression.
The 1940-1946 reports primarily concern the effect of World War II on settlement house programs.
These boxes contain reports of the individual departments of the settlement house. In general these reports contain the following information: description of the program and activities, attendance records, regulations, and objectives. Clinic Reports include records of child and adult clinics, infant welfare, prenatal clinics, tuberculosis, and dental clinics. Correspondence during prohibition relative to obtaining alcohol for medicinal purposes is also included, as well as information on birth control. Some of the early clinic reports also contain statistical records on attendance in the neighborhood house kindergarten.
The purpose of this department was to develop constructive relationships among organizations and individuals in order to achieve socially desirable goals. This material is concerned with activities in the first ward of Minneapolis. There are comments on the formation of a community council and civilian defense activities during World War II.
Includes lists of applicants for placement and comments on labor markets, difficulty in obtaining employment, and methods of increasing job potential. There is some information on classes that were conducted during the depression to assist the unemployed to find jobs, especially training women in efficient and modern methods of housekeeping. The effects of World War II on the labor force are discussed. There are copies of bills, laws, and government pamphlets regarding labor conditions and information on minimum wage laws, labor unions, and similar issues.
Records for 1940 include information on the American Youth Congress, Minneapolis youth groups, the North East Peace Group, and United States neutrality.
The kindergarten was operated with the assistance of students from Miss Wood's Training School.
Personal Service department records include information on personal service work in all Minneapolis settlement houses. Common problems and services rendered by the department are: financial assistance, employment, medical care, family maladjustment, clothing needs, mental disorders, legal problems, and alien registration.
The Interdepartmental Exchange was organized in October 1937 as a means of improving working relations between the various departments at the North East Neighborhood House. Individual meetings of the Exchange study problems and conditions of families belonging to the settlement house.
Reports include attendance data, number of persons served by the house, and related data.
These boxes contain reports of meetings of clubs, classes, and other organized groups at the North East Neighborhood House. All records of meetings and activities of each group have been kept together and are filed in chronological order under the date of the first meeting of the group.
Typescript reminiscences of World War I, outdoor band concerts, heling out in a parents' store, family camping trips, cars owned, and work and retirement by older East Minneapolis residents.
These boxes contain correspondence, reports, and miscellaneous papers dealing with the Minneapolis Council of Social Agencies, its policies, and its relationship with the North East Neighborhood House and other Minneapolis welfare agencies. Most of this material concerns the budget and financial arrangements of the settlement house with the Council. Also included are reports of committees and of surveys made by the Council; minutes of meetings of the Council board of directors (1941-1944); a report and information on the Children's Protective Society (July-Sept. 1943); juvenile delinquency in Minneapolis (1940-1944); and the candidacy of Mrs. Kate Koon Bovey for the annual award given by the Council (Nov. 1943-Feb. 1944).
Included are correspondence, bulletins, and miscellaneous papers relating to the policies and programs of the National Federation of Settlements. There is information on the following topics: settlement activities in the United States, social problems and welfare programs, housing, unemployment, medical care, and social legislation. Items of special interest are: information and case studies to be used in a study of the social effects of unemployment on various phases of settlement work and the relationship of the settlement to the community (Feb. 1, 1929); a report on settlements in Hungary (Dec. 5, 1937); and settlement activities in southern states (March 1938).
Correspondence, miscellaneous papers, and reports that relate to the activities, programs, and policies of settlements on a local level. A copy of "Self-Analysis Survey of Minneapolis Settlement Houses" (1934) is included.
Includes material concerning group work activities; responsibility and duties of group leaders; determining interests of groups; groups formed for special activities; qualifications of group workers; group records; and the purpose and effect of group work. Correspondence and reports concerned with various social workers' organizations (undated, 1928-1948) give information on employment conditions and miscellaneous subjects of interest to social workers.
Contains materials regarding CWA projects at the North East Neighborhood House; copies of letters from CWA workers at the house to President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressing gratitude for employment; and a list of persons registered for work with the settlement house.
Relates to recreation facilities for returning soldiers.
Material concerned with the park and its facilities, including letters from Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey (April 18, 1946; May 15, 1946; July 16, 1946).
Includes information on public housing, correspondence of the Minnesota Better Housing Association, and a survey of housing conditions and the effect of increased prices on living standards (1947-1948).
Correspondence and printed materials regarding legislation on a local, state, and national level. Primarily concerned with social legislation but also deals with military appropriation bills, U.S. neutrality, lend-lease bill, welfare and relief, and programs begun during the New Deal. Correspondents are Henrik Shipstead, Thomas D. Schall, William I. Nolan, Ernest Lundeen, Oscar Youngdahl, Joseph H. Ball, Richard P. Gale, William J. Gallagher, Mabeth Hurd Paige, and Walter H. Judd.
Concerned with agricultural labor performed by children during World War II and includes comments of the parents of children who were employed in the project.
Contains information on conditions and facilities of maternity hospitals in Minneapolis.
Contains information on programs presented and correspondence asking persons to lecture or perform for the group. Correspondents include Gratia A. Countryman, E. H. H. Holman, Henrik Shipstead, Lotus D. Coffman, Donald J. Cowling, and Charles H. Mayo.
Contains correspondence, programs, and other information on special social activities of the settlement house, such as Christmas programs, concerts, and recitals.
Includes information on programs to assist returning servicemen, especially after World War II.
Contains correspondence and miscellaneous papers relating to the following agencies: Family Welfare Association, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Girl Scouts, YMCA, YWCA, Goodwill Industries, Boy Scouts, Jewish Family Welfare Association, and various governmental welfare agencies.
Mostly copies of letters written by Robbins Gilman and other staff members. Items of particular interest are: a list of families residing in the North East Neighborhood House district and providing the numbers of years residing in the city, the ward, and the neighborhood (1933-1934); social survey of 20,000 families residing in the ten Minneapolis Settlement House Districts (1934); clippings containing obituaries and memorial comments on Jane Addams (1935); signature of Henry Morganthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury (September 24, 1941), regarding the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds; and letter from Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey concerning the Minneapolis Youth Commission (May 28, 1948).
Contains newspaper clippings that relate to the youth welfare and education programs at the House including infant health care, youth sports, cooking classes, dance, and drama; flag day celebrations; building and remodeling projects; Head Worker Robbins Gilman; and the Immanuel Mission.
Four glass plate lantern slides contain images of the House's first day nursery (1915); a pupil with the House's piano teacher, Miss Boehme; and Dr. John Ryan with his assistant and patient, Katharine Patrick, at the first dental clinic in a Minneapolis settlement.
Images of a Russian family that frequently visited the House (1923); a women's basketball team; a Christmas portrait entitled "Yule Tide Tea"; Head Worker Robbins Gilman; and a number of individuals in the military (1940s).