Book Talk: "Skyscraper Settlement: The Many Lives of Christodora House"

In 1900, there were over 300,000 people per square mile living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The inhabitants, mostly immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, often arrived with few possessions and little money. To provide for the newcomers’ urgent needs, settlement houses were established in New York and other cities.

Established in 1886, University Settlement was the first settlement house in the United States. Skyscraper Settlement: The Many Lives of Christodora House, tells the story of another, lesser-known settlement house located across from Tompkins Square Park. From 1897, the resident workers and volunteers at Christodora House, originally called the Young Women’s Settlement, provided classes, clubs, recreational activities, and medical and dental clinics for thousands of New Yorkers on Avenue B, and then in public housing and other locations.

“More than just a history of one building or organization, Skyscraper Settlement provides an engaging examination of a profoundly important movement—largely shaped by women—that offers a hopeful message for today” (Sarah Peskin, Board Chair, the Frances Perkins Center).

The book talk will be held at

University Settlement's Speyer Hall

184 Eldridge Street, Second Floor

New York NY 10002

Copies of Skyscraper Settlement can be purchased at the venue, or can be ordered from NYU Press

Joyce Milambiling is a writer and educator with a PhD in Applied Linguistics, who has enjoyed a long career teaching foreign language and ESL teachers in New York and Iowa. A member of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians and the New York Historical Society, her articles have appeared in Academe, English Teaching Forum, and Theory into Practice.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

184 Eldridge Street, 143 Eldridge Street, New York, United States