Hartley House was opened by the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor on January 1, 1897, and was incorporated as an independent organization in 1903. Establishment of Hartley House was the result of a gradually increasing feeling among the managers of the Association that "if the homes of the poor could be made more comfortable and attractive, and the home lives more sufficient, there would be less cause for family dissensions and dissolutions, less seeking of the saloons by the men, less misery and wretchedness for the women, more happiness in the tenement districts, and less evil in the community."
According to the Association, Hartley House was to be a small "homemaking" school, where poor girls could be taught to make and keep an attractive, neat home - - not only for their own, but also for the benefit of their families, husbands, brothers, and friends. It was also the intention of the founders to bring the upper classes into the settlement to contribute volunteer work which, it was believed, would benefit both the poor and the wealthy. Marcellus Hartley, a New York businessman and philanthropist, donated one of the settlement's buildings in honor of this father, Robert M. Hartley, and another as a memorial to his daughter, Grace Hartley Stokes.
From its beginnings, the settlement carried on the usual range of activities, from children's classes to cooking lessons. Programs included a system of work relief, where unemployed neighbors were put to work in special industrial rooms. Hartley House's services were direct responses to the needs of its neighbors, and changing needs over the years were met by innovative programming. As the ethnic composition of the neighborhood changed from what was largely an Irish and German population in 1897 to one that reflected an even more cosmopolitan society, programs were expanded to include health services, English language classes, and additional summer activities.
Additional information is available on the Hartley House website .
From the guide to the Hartley House records, 1896-1961, (University of Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History Archives [swha])
