Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

06/21/2019

Last night was the first ever tribute to improv and theater greats, Viola Spolin and Paul Sills, who were influenced by Hull-House's progressive social and education reforms. What a great night to celebrate Chicago's theater history with so many of its champions! Do you recognize anyone?

Thank you to Mark Larson, Aretha Sills and Sills/Spolin Theater Works, and the Sills/Spolin family, The Second City, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, UIC School of Theatre and Music, and DJ Sadie Woods for joining Hull-House in celebration!
#YearofChicagoTheater
#violaSpolin
#PaulSills
#TheaterGames

Photo credit: Sarah Larson/Jane Addams Hull-House Museum

06/10/2019

Today on June 10, 1963 President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, prohibiting wage discrimination on the basis of sex. In the image below, Kennedy signed the Act while surrounded by members of AAUW, an organization founded by strong women, including Jane Addams. Nearly 40 years earlier in 1915, Ellen Gates Starr, Addams' college roommate and co-founder of Hull-House, was arrested after picketing alongside Chicago waitresses on strike for equal pay.

#JAHHM
#WomensRights
Photos courtesy of Chicago History Museum & AAUW.
Learn more about Ellen Gates Starr in our current exhibition, "Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change" -now extended through July!

06/05/2019

Kick off Pride Month by joining Hull-House for our first Gender & Sexuality tour this summer! Learn about chosen families, personal stories and more on this 1-hour tour running every Wednesday at 1:00 PM throughout the month of June!

#JAHHM
#PrideMonth
#MTWS

06/04/2019

30 key moments in Chicago's LGBTQ history

Chicago Tribune begins its "30 key moments in Chicago's LGBTQ history" in 1889 with Jane Addams and the founding of Hull-House! Visit the Museum and learn more about what the Settlement meant for the West Side and LGBTQ history of Chicago. In celebration of Pride Month, every Wednesday's 1PM public tour will focus on gender and sexuality.

#JAHHM
#MTWS
#Pride

Here are 30 moments that impacted LGBTQ communities across Chicago and Illinois from 1889 to 2019.

06/04/2019

Suffragists across the United States, including Jane Addams and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, fought for women's rights and equality. 100 years ago today on June 4, 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, and now women of all backgrounds possess the right to vote.

#JAHHM
#VotesForWomen

06/03/2019

Missed last May’s workshop with Aretha Sills? GOOD NEWS: there will be one more workshop led by Aretha on June 21st! RSVP for the 6/21 Theater Workshop at Hull-House today! It's FREE and open to all experience levels with RSVP. See you there!

#JAHHM
#YearofChicagoTheater
#ParticipatoryArts
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

06/01/2019

Remember the Titans: Jane Addams welcomed immigrants with open arms

“Remember the Titans!”. Thank you Qrius for this special ode to the Hull-House Settlement and Jane Addams! Two of the original settlement buildings remain, which have become the Museum! Come visit us this summer to see where history happened.

https://qrius.com/remember-the-titans-what-jane-addams-taught-the-world-by-welcoming-immigrants-with-open-arms/

#JAHHM

Jane Addams was aware of immigrants' suffering in the US after the Civil War and wished to establish a settlement that could be a melting pot of sorts

05/27/2019

Missed Aretha Sills at Hull-House this May? She will be leading another Theater Workshop on June 21st! RSVP to 6/21 Theater Workshop at Hull-House and reserve your spot! Don't wait! FREE!!

Sills/Spolin Theater Works
#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#YearofTheaterChicago
#Improv

05/26/2019

Happy Memorial Day! Jane Addams Hull-House Museum will be closed today and tomorrow. The Museum will reopen on Tuesday, May 28th at 10AM.

Women were responsible for global peace movements then and now. Here are three young peace leaders active in our communities today who participated in our program on ‘dangerous women’: Natasha Erskine, Monica Trinidad & Byul Yoon.

#JAHHM
#DangerousWomen
#Peace
Photo by Jeremy Handrup

05/25/2019

Happy Memorial Day from Hull-House! Today we reflect on the importance of peace and freedom on a day that honors those who have been lost fighting for these causes.

Hull-House will be closed this SUNDAY MAY 26TH & MONDAY MAY 27TH. We will reopen on Tuesday, May 28th. Enjoy the weekend!

#JAHHM
#Peace

05/23/2019

Hull-House is excited to start celebrating local history and our community by activating the courtyard again! Now that the weather is nice, it's almost time for the Summer of Theater at Hull-House to begin! Check our website at hullhousemuseum.org for upcoming summer programming!

Here are some pictures from 2017 when we held our "Good This Day Only" Celebration of the Maxwell Street Market! Images by Sarah Pooley.

#JAHHM
#MTWS
#ThrowbackThursday
#Summertime

05/22/2019

On the Table | Memo to the Mayor | Hull House

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum gathered community partners to craft a Memo to the Mayor from the West Side. The result is this video memo by the youth of BBF Family Services in North Lawndale. They have a lot to say about what the West Side needs. Listen to them!

This video memo was prompted by The Chicago Community Trust's "On The Table" discussions and Jane Addams Hull-House Museum's "Making the West Side" initiative.

#JAHHM
#MTWS
#ListenUp
Chicago Mayor's Office
Angela Oliver
Yahkirah Beard
Rufus Williams
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

This is "On the Table | Memo to the Mayor | Hull House" by Skill Scout on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

05/22/2019

Come by Hull-House for today's 1PM public tour! As a reminder, the Museum will be closed this Sunday for Memorial Day. The next public tour will be Wednesday, May 29th at 1PM.

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#FreeTours

05/19/2019

Bring your friends to visit Jane Addams Hull-House Museum today at 1pm to take our weekly public tour! Learn more about the history of the house and the settlement movement with one of our educators.

#JAHHM
#FriendsMW
#MuseumWeek

05/19/2019

It's the last day of Museum Week and today's theme is friends!

#JAHHM
#FriendsMW
#MuseumWeek

05/17/2019

Eminent domain is the right of government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
This picture was taken in the summer of 1961, when Elsa McCormick and Sen. Paul H. Douglas fought against eminent domain to save Hull-House.

#JAHHM
#ExploreMW
#MuseumWeek

05/17/2019

Childhood was very different in the early 1900’s. Children were working in factories, playing in garbage and arrested and tried as adults. Chicago’s first playgrounds and juvenile courts were started by Hull-House reformers. Thanks to the social reformers, our conception of childhood has been completely reinvented.

#JAHHM
#ExploreMW
#MuseumWeek

05/17/2019

Today we explore the Hull-House neighborhood and many “firsts” started by and at Hull-House. In 1893, 40% of children did not see their fifth birthday. Reforms starting at Hull-House led to bathhouses, affordable education and childcare. These reforms drastically improved community well-being.

#JAHHM
#ExploreMW
#MuseumWeek

05/17/2019

TGIF! This Friday's theme for #MuseumWeek is exploration. Hull-House is open from 10AM-4PM today. Come by and explore something new!

#JAHHM
#ExploreMW
#MuseumWeek

05/16/2019

Hull-House was a place for what we now call "chosen families." The Jane Club was founded for single women to escape from negative labels like "spinster" and "widow" and form a community among strong and independent women, including those who rejected expected gender conventions.

#JAHHM
#RainbowMW
#MuseumWeek

05/16/2019

Dr. Cornelia De Bey, a social reformer at Hull-House, was a physician, an activist and an educational reformer. After earning her homeopathic medicine degree in 1895, Dr. De Bey worked out of Hull-House before opening her own private practice downtown Chicago. Like Jane Addams, Dr. De Bey never married, and lived with her companion, Kate Starr Kellogg. Kate Starr Kellogg was an activist, a school teacher, the sister of artist, Alice Kellogg Tyler, the artist of this portrait of Dr. De Bey.

#JAHHM
#RainbowMW
#MuseumWeek

05/16/2019

"I do firmly believe her to be [...] the dearest, sweetest preciousest girl the world contains. I have loved her dearly for 11 years, but I never knew how much she deserved to be loved till I saw her every day for weeks together and under all sorts of circumstances irritated and in pain. I wish I could paint her or write her or put her into music to do the whole world good, as she does me: but I can only keep her in my heart to try to be just a little like her, with my limited success."
--Ellen Gates Starr to Sarah Alice Addams Haldeman, Jane Addams' sister about Jane Addams, March 4th, 1888

#JAHHM
#RainbowMW
#MuseumWeek

05/16/2019

Hull-House provided an environment for what has been called, "queer domesticity." As more and more people moved away from the structure of the traditional nuclear family to work outside the home, settlements like Hull-House offered an alternative, "chosen family."

#JAHHM
#RainbowMW
#MuseumWeek

05/16/2019

Thursday's theme for #MuseumWeek is all about rainbows. Drop by Hull-House from 10-4PM to learn more.

#JAHHM
#rainbowMW
#MuseumWeek

05/15/2019

#MuseumWeek's Wednesday's theme is play. Hashtag your favorite form of play from your childhood. #playMW

05/15/2019

Hull-House Family Days are #PlayMW days! In March, we hosted a Voguing workshop led by the incredible author, artist and educator Benji Hart. Check out our website at hullhousemuseum.org for the next Family Day and other upcoming programs!

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#PlayMW
#MuseumWeek

05/15/2019

Hull-House's current exhibition, "Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change" demonstrates how the Hull-House Social Settlement was transformed into a place of participation, education and play. Our partners at North Branch Projects invite you to #playMW with ideas of community binding and collective storytelling by contributing to these hand-bound books! What will you write?

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#MuseumWeek
#PlayMW

Image by Greg Ruffing

05/15/2019

Hull-House is the site of the first public playground in the city of Chicago. Visit Hull-House to learn more about this history. #playMW

#JAHHM
#PlayMW
#MuseumWeek

05/15/2019

Wednesday is play day! Today's theme explores play in the Museum. Hull-House is open today from 10AM-4PM. Come by!

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#MuseumWeek
#PlayMW

05/14/2019

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a tale of women's health, gender relations and feminism in the late 19th century. What does it have to do with Hull-House?

The Museum is open today from 10AM-4PM. Stop by and ask one of our educators for more information!

#JAHHM
#MuseumWeek
#secretsMW

05/14/2019

Q: Who started "the most dangerous woman in America"s FBI file?

A: J. Edgar Hoover

Visit Hull-House and learn more!

#MuseumWeek #JAHHM #secretsMW

05/14/2019

Tuesday's theme for #MuseumWeek is all about secrets! Drop by Hull-House from 10-4PM to learn more.

#JAHHM
#secretsMW
#MuseumWeek

05/13/2019

“Let us sing as we go, Votes for Women!
Let us sing as we go, Votes for Women!
Though the way may be hard, Tho' the battle be long,
Yet our triumph is sure; put your heart into song”

For this first day of #MuseumWeek's theme #WomenInCulture, here's an excerpt of “The Suffrage Song” composed by Eleanor Smith and lyrics by James Weber Linn. Social protest songs like this one were popular in the early 1900’s to combat the injustices of the time. Come by Jane Addams Hull-House Museum to learn more about Jane Addams and other social reformers' role in the suffrage movement!

#JAHHM
#MuseumWeek
#WomenInCulture

05/13/2019

Aretha Sills' contribution to Theater makes her today’s focus for #MuseumWeek’s Women in Culture spotlight. As the granddaughter of Theater legend Viola Spolin and daughter of Second City and Story Theater founder, Paul Sills, Aretha Sills employs Spolin’s improvisation theater games as the Associate Director of Sills/Spolin Theater Works. She conducts workshops all around the country, keeping her family's legacy alive.

Aretha Sills at Hull-House: "A Search for Community" is happening this afternoon from 12:45-2:00PM. Lunch is provided so RSVP to join!

#JAHHM
#MuseumWeek
#WomenInCulture

05/13/2019

Join Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and #MuseumWeek in celebrating women in culture today! Share with us your favorite woman/women and use the hashtag #WomenInCulture.

#JAHHM

05/13/2019

Our theater workshop this morning is sold out!! But our lunch talk today at 12:45pm is still open! If you’re interested in the history of Chicago theater and improv, join us! FREE! Lunch served.
#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts

05/13/2019

We're just getting started with Aretha Sills and today's 5/13 Theater Workshop at Hull-House! Hull-House is very excited to host the granddaughter of Viola Spolin for the day!

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#YearofTheaterChicago
#Improv
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

05/12/2019

Don't forget! Tomorrow at 9AM, grab some coffee and join us for 5/13 Theater Workshop at Hull-House - 3 hours of theater improv training for educators! This workshop is full, but if you are interested in joining there will be another one on 6/21 Theater Workshop at Hull-House!!

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#YearOfChicagoTheater
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

05/11/2019

Viola Spolin Biography

Who is Viola Spolin? Why would there be no The Second City, no Saturday Night Live and no Mad TV without her?

Learn more about Viola Spolin at violaspolin.org and hear her granddaughter Aretha Sills speak at Hull-House on May 13th Aretha Sills at Hull-House: "A Search for Community". This event is free and open to the public! RSVP! Enjoy lunch with us and learn about theater history and the origins of improv in Chicago!

#JAHHM
#YearofChicagoTheater
#ParticipatoryArts
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

The official website of Viola Spolin, originator of theater games and mother of improvisational theater. 

05/10/2019

257. Paul Sand

Come by Hull-House on May 13th to learn about the roots of improv theater, Second City co-founder, Paul Sills, and Hull-House's connection to Chicago's great theater legacy at our FREE lunch talk: Aretha Sills at Hull-House: "A Search for Community" on May 13th!

Check out this podcast to hear Tony-winning actor Paul Sand "discuss the birth of improv comedy and the early days of The Second City"

#JAHHM
#YearofChicagoTheater
#ParticipatoryArts
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

Tony-winning actor Paul Sand joins Gilbert and Frank to discuss the birth of improv comedy and the early days of Second City and shares his memories of working with Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar,

05/10/2019

Who is Viola Spolin? Who is the mother of improv theater? What do you know about Paul Sills, the co-founder of The Second City? How did Neva Boyd use her theory of play to democratize education and teach immigrant children at Hull-House in the 1920s? Aretha Sills, the grand daughter of Viola Spolin, will answer these questions and more this Monday at Aretha Sills at Hull-House: "A Search for Community". RSVP for the talk and lunch will be provided! FREE!! If you are interested in Chicago theater history, this is for you!!

#JAHHM
#YearofChicagoTheater
#ParticipatoryArts
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

05/09/2019

History - The Second City

Did you know that improv started at Hull-House?:
Arkin, Rivers, Curry, Ramis, Belushi, Radner, Candy, Aykroyd, O'Hara, Levy, Murray, Short -and that's only up until 1975. "50 Years of Funny" at The Second City all began with Viola Spolin and Paul Sills!

Learn more about Chicago's theater and improv history at our lunch talk: Aretha Sills at Hull-House: "A Search for Community" on May 13th at 12PM! FREE!! with RSVP. Lunch provided!

#JAHHM
#YearofChicagoTheater
#ParticipatoryArts
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

05/09/2019

Hull-House reformer and theater innovator, Viola Spolin was born in Chicago in 1906. She studied at progressive educator Neva Boyd’s Recreational Training School at Hull-House. She later majored in Dramatics at DePaul University and studied at the Goodman Theatre. She stage managed at the 1934 World's Fair and taught workshops at Hull-House. Northwestern University would later publish her seminal work, "Improvisation for the Theater." Her son, Paul Sills, went on to co-found The Second City. Want to learn more about your city and about Chicago theater history?

Spolin's granddaughter, Aretha Sills will be at Hull-House for 2 theater workshops this May 13th and June 21st! RSVP for 5/13 Theater Workshop at Hull-House or 6/21 Theater Workshop at Hull-House to learn theater techniques and innovative improv approaches! FREE!! with RSVP.

#JAHHM
#ParticipatoryArts
#YearofChicagoTheater
Sills/Spolin Theater Works

05/08/2019

Into the Unknown with Viola Spolin

Are you a Theater or Museum Educator? Have you considered incorporating theater games or improv into your work? "Theater games are a way to teach acting to all age ranges, children to adults, in a non-authoritarian and non-psychological way."

Join Aretha Sills on 5/13 Theater Workshop at Hull-House or 6/21 Theater Workshop at Hull-House for a *free* afternoon of fun and expression. No experience necessary -just an RSVP!

#JAHHM
#YearofTheater
#ParticipatoryArts
Sills/Spolin Theater Works
UIC School of Theatre and Music

This "Improv Legends" documentary short explores the influential work of the legendary Viola Spolin. Footage of Viola Spolin's 1982 workshop is Los Angeles i...