Skyscraper Settlement: The Many Lives of Christodora House

by Joyce Milambiling

Overview

The roles that Christodora House has played from 19th-century settlement house to its newest forms

Settlement house workers helped transform the lives of thousands of people despite lack of funding, the influenza epidemic of 1918, economic depressions, and two World Wars. Many of these houses still exist in the original neighborhoods where they confront the problems of today and advocate for their communities.

Christodora House, founded in 1897 as “The Young Women’s Settlement,” played an important role in the life of immigrants and other residents on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. For over 50 years, residents and volunteers at Christodora House provided classes, clubs, recreational activities, and medical and dental clinics for thousands of New Yorkers, and then continued to operate programs out of public housing and other locations for more than two decades.

The building at 143 Avenue B, now housing condominiums, has had a tumultuous history since 1948 but still stands, towering over its tenement neighborhood in the East Village. Christodora Inc. is now a nonprofit foundation with offices in Midtown Manhattan, whose staff works with underserved New Yorkers, including youth in the public school system, carrying on a long, distinguished history of service to the city and country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613322178
Publisher:	New Village Press
Publication date:	09/19/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

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. She is a seasoned traveler fascinated by the complexities of history and culture. 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.

Editorial Reviews

"“A creative and illuminating synthesis of local and large—scale history. It masterfully fuses a fascinating account of a settlement house in New York’s Lower East Side, from its founding by two young middle—class women in 1897 to the present, into a wider inquiry on urbanization, migration, progressivist ideology, religion—based philanthropy, and inter—class and ethnic encounters. In the process, the author fittingly pays tribute to forgotten individuals who, regardless of the prejudices of their times, devoted much of their lives to helping others.”"

Professor of History, Barnard College; Director, the Forum on Migration - José C. Moya

"This remarkable book gives voice to one of the lesser—known but essential settlement houses in the United States."

North American Review

"“More than just the 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. Christodora's evolution from its founding in 1897 shows how flexibility and practical idealism can produce powerful change for the common good. Milambiling's enthusiasm is palpable as she sets the scene with tales of her archival sleuthing and insights gained from the words of the women who created this remarkable organization . . . This book is an inspiring read for those who seek a caring society founded on nonprofit innovation partnered with effective service delivery by the government.”"

Board Chair, the Frances Perkins Center - Sarah Peskin

"I recommend the book for undergraduate and graduate courses in urban affairs, urban planning, public policy, and social work and for practitioners in those professions."

Journal of Urban Affairs - Barbara Levy Simon