Park House (Chicago, Ill.)

Park House was described as a "combination Bohemian rooming house, YMCA, and youth settlement house," located on Chicago's Near North Side. Founded in 1934, the house was named after University of Chicago Sociologist Robert E. Park and run by Ruth and James B. Nobel. Park House was designed to provide community and entertainment for the many young people who had recently arrived in Chicago, leaving families and communities behind. Until its closure in 1944, activities at Park House included dancing, music, lectures, discussion groups, writing groups, research projects, performances, and shared meals. The Park House Records describe the activities of the house through correspondence, financial records, diaries, reports, surveys, newsletters, and writings by residents. The Records also included materials related to House sociology and sociological experiments, records about churches and religion on Chicago's Near North Side, papers relating to Robert E. Park's involvement with the House, and materials relating to the Park House Reunion in 1982.