An accurate description of Park House is difficult to construct. One participant described the house as a "combination Bohemian rooming house, YMCA, and youth settlement house," located on Chicago’s Near North Side. However, while residents and participants conducted lengthy discussions about the nature of Park House, they often found it easier to define what the House was not.
Founded in 1934, the house was named after University of Chicago Sociologist Robert E. Park and run by Ruth and James B. Nobel. James Nobel conceived the idea for Park House while he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. 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. It was distinctive in part because it sought to serve a population that was neither particularly wealthy nor particularly poor. Activities at Park House included dancing, music, lectures, discussion groups, writing groups, performances, and shared meals. Its founders also considered the House an experiment in sociology and social psychology. Residents of the House conducted several surveys of the surrounding neighborhood, including studies of local churches and ethnic groups. Participants were also encouraged to partake in Nobel’s "experiments in conversation," that sought to encourage both self-reflection and an expansive understanding of the world. At weekly events invited speakers and residents were invited to share their life stories with an audience that analyzed them. Speakers including Clifford Shaw, W. Lloyd Warner, and Robert E. Park reflected the sociological and academic orientation of Park House.
Park House residents prided themselves on their independence and diversity. While outsiders often linked the house with other institutional bodies like the University of Chicago and the New England Congregational Church, Park Housers were careful to note that these ties were never formalized. Most Park House residents and participants were white, and many were Midwesterners who struggled financially during the Depression. Despite these similarities, Park House participants came from varied religious, ethnic, religious, educational and class backgrounds. Outsiders often viewed Park House as a Communist or radical institutions; however, members described themselves as a group with a wide range of political views.
Park House struggled financially throughout its existence, receiving only limited funding from outside foundations. Park House closed in 1944, when the building was sold and turned into apartments. Many residents and participants remained close and a Park House reunion in 1982 attracted a significant percentage of people associated with the House. Many Park House alumni wrote to provide detailed accounts of their lives in the decades between the dissolution of Park House and the reunion.
From the guide to the Park House. Records, 1928-1996, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)
