Photograph Album Focusing on the Children Who Frequented Eli Bates House, a Settlement House in Chicago

Chicago: 1923-1925. Photo album binding of suede, string tied illustrated wrappers, 8.5 x 5.5", containing 81 pasted in black and white photos, many images with annotations on the lower margins of the photos. A photo album documenting the activities of children associated with the Eli Bates House, a social settlement house on Elm Street in a particularly impoverished neighborhood of Chicago. One source notes that "The neighborhood is peculiarly forlorn, and the House offers the only bright, clean, pleasant meeting-place for blocks around" (Gavit, "Chicago Commons", 1902, Page 4). The house ran a day nursery for children of working mothers, the first of its kind in the city, as well as numerous clubs and classes for children: "the Eli Bates House offers a friendly hand to the families surrounding it...Youth, with all its eagerness for companionship after school hours, flocks to the doors of clubs and classes of all kinds" (Clarion-News, Opelousas, Louisiana, 5/12/1932).

This album focuses on the children who frequented the house. It includes images of clubs and classes, including the band, the Cambridge Club, and a dancing class. There are many images of children's theatrical performances, including "Yanki San", Snow White, and a blackface show. There are also images of the House basketball team, including a match against Jane Addams's Hull House. Another series of images focuses on the children in the backyard and streets around the House, including playing baseball, the boys' "marble champs", and boys posed individually and in groups in their urchin wear on the street. Finally, the album includes a series of photos of the staff, including Miss H.H. Day, Betty Ismond, Miss Emmerson, Miss Foy, and Miss Nelson, the latter of whom is shown posed in the nursery. Fading to some images, some of which also show a washed out quality. Bit of soiling to album leaves, one image of a performance with corner chipped. Item #13988

Price: $1,500.00