Hull House Firsts

• First social settlement house in Chicago
• First public swimming pool, kitchen and playground in Chicago
• First free art exhibits and painting loan program in Chicago
• Investigations that led to the creation and enactment of the first factory laws in Illinois
• Creation of the first four labor unions: Women's Skirt Makers, Women Cloak Makers, Dorcas Federal Labor Union, Chicago Women's trade Union League
• First investigations resulting in laws relating to truancy, sanitation, child labor, public school curriculum
• First private venture capital fund in the U.S. targeted toward neighborhood business development
• First domestic violence court in Chicago in conjunction with the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network (Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Program)
• First on-site emergency medical team in a Chicago public housing development (First Aid Care Team)
• First infant care facility in a Chicago high school (Orr Infant and Family Development Center)
• First community-based foster care program of its kind in the country (Neighbor to Neighbor)
• Hull House Web site http://www.hullhouse.org/