Coffee house is key part of legacy of Jane Addams

Uptown Bill's customers are often surprised to learn that Jane
Addams imagined places like a coffeehouse as social work settings.
Actually, it was one of earliest innovations introduced by her -- and the
other women of Hull House.

 The settlement house opened its doors on Halsted Street in Chicago
in September 1889. The coffeehouse opened shortly after that. It was to be a community gathering place, Addams said, where all would be welcome. The
coffeehouse was both an informal drop-in place as well as the sponsor of a
host of programs, including theater, music, lectures and debates.

By 1895, the coffeehouse experience was in print. It was included
in one of the chapters which make up Hull House Maps and Papers. In 1910,
Addams included the coffeehouse in her best-known book, Twenty
Years at Hull House.

The coffeehouse idea was just one of a host of remarkable ideas
from Addams and the women of Hull House. They also started a day care
center for working mothers, a health clinic, a branch library and a public
playground. All of these were innovations when they began a century ago --
new institutions which responded to specific community needs.

Addams and the women of Hull House were also involved in forming a
host of community organizations. Among the best-known: NAACP, NASW, PTA,
AAUW, American Civil Liberties Union and the Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom. They also helped organize labor unions and
cooperatives.