Hull House Maps and Papers, 1895

Abstract

AbstractIn 1895, Jane Addams and other residents of Hull House published Hull-House Maps and Papers, the result of a social survey led by Florence Kelley about the working conditions and social characteristics of families living in the Chicago’s 19th Ward. The book included some essays prepared by a group of residents and neighbors and two sets of detailed maps that showed the total weekly earnings for each household and the nationality of each inhabitant. A detailed analysis of the maps and essays and the context in which they were produced is relevant today, not only as a pioneer example of mixed-methods research, but also due to their innovative cartographic proposal and their effort to produce high-quality data and visual materials to be used as a tool to promote social and legislative changes. The sympathetic, relational, and experimental approach to social research developed by Addams transformed the settlement into a place where the social and ethical aspects of knowledge production were combined with a scientific attitude directed to achieve structural reforms and constitutes an inspiration for contemporary urban researchers committed to a feminist, participatory, and critical approach to diversity and inequality.