Eleanor McMain (1868–1934) was an American

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

worker and progressive reformer in early-20th-century

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

McMain served as head resident of Kingsley House, the largest and most influential settlement house in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, transforming Kingsley House into a focal point of progressive movements in the New Orleans area. Additionally she furthered women's causes at a time of suffrage.

Early life and education

Of Scottish-Irish

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

heritage, Eleanor Laura McMain was born on March 2, 1868, on a farm in

East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 at the 2020 census. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Lo ...

, along the

Amite River The Amite River (french: Rivière Amite) is a tributary of Lake Maurepas in Mississippi and Louisiana in the United States. It is about long. It starts as two forks in southwestern Mississippi and flows south through Louisiana, passing Greater ...

, 17 miles from

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...

. Her parents were Jacob West McMain and Jane Josephine McMain (née Walsh). She was known as "Nellie" to family and friends during her youth. As a young girl, the family relocated to Baton Rouge so that her father could serve in administrative posts at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. The family homestead later became the site of Our Lady of the Lake Sanitarium. Her family valued education and provided young McMain with a private school education. Her parents raised her as an Episcopalian. McMain briefly served as a teacher in Baton Rouge before subsequently relocating to New Orleans to further her training at the Free Kindergarten Association, an Episcopal sponsored effort to provide innovations in pre-school education. The training school of the Free Kindergarten Association combined with the Trinity Church Mission to form Kingsley House.

Career

In 1900 shortly after Kingsley House formed, McMain was appointed director of Kingsley House, a settlement house dedicated to improving integration of poor people into society. It was then located in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans at 1600 Constance Street. Community activist

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage i ...

visited New Orleans in 1900, and, so as to prepare for her new role, McMain studied at Addams's two Chicago settlement houses,

Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House (named after the original house's first owner Char ...

and Chicago Center. Kingsley House progressed rapidly under McMain's leadership. By 1902, McMain reorganized Kingsley House on a

nonsectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...

basis, and it thereby went from being Episcopalian to having

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and Jewish representation on their board. During her tenure, Kingsley House became a community center with a medical clinic, a kindergarten, an adult night school, a library, and the first vocational school in New Orleans. It additionally became a social center with concerts, dances, athletic events, and organized recreation for children. For the vocational school, McMain arranged for use of a building operated by the

Orleans Parish School Board The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) governs the public school system that serves New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes the entirety of Orleans Parish, coterminous with New Orleans. The OPSB directly administers 6 schools and has granted chart ...

. She also established the first public playground in the city of New Orleans. Self-help and cooperation were among the guiding principles instituted by McMain at Kingsley House. She gave the residents slogans to live by: * Everything to help and nothing to hinder * Each for all and all for each * I must do my part Jane Addams occasionally visited Kingsley House, as did other representatives from Hull House. In 1912, McMain took a leave of absence from Kingsley House to visit Chicago while recovering from

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

, and renewing her relationship with Addams. At times, Addams referred to Kingsley House as "Little Hull House". Kate M. Gordon and

Jean Margaret Gordon Jean Margaret Gordon (1865 – February 24, 1931) was an American suffragist, social worker, civic leader, and reformer. She served as president of the Louisiana Woman Suffrage Association (1913–20). She was New Orleans's first factory inspector. ...

who were leading suffragettes in New Orleans at the time, had key rolls in the Women's Club at Kingsley House. McMain contributed to other causes for civic reform in the city of New Orleans. In 1904, she became president of the local

Tenement House A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

Association, and in this role she publicized the findings of the housing survey, resulting in public attention to substandard urban living conditions. In 1905, McMain led a clean-up and education campaign to help eradicate the

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemic in the Irish Channel of New Orleans. She became the first president of the Women's League of New Orleans. McMain was a founder of an anti-

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

association in New Orleans. She lobbied the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...

for

child labor laws Child labour laws are statutes placing restrictions and regulations on the work of minors. Child labour increased during the Industrial Revolution due to the children's abilities to access smaller spaces and the ability to pay children less wages ...

and, in 1910, achieved passage of Women's League sponsored compulsory education. McMain worked closely with Jean Gordon and Kate Gordon in these endeavors. During her tenure, Kingsley House established a Woodworking Class for the Blind, conducted by an instructor from the Delgado Trade School. It also established the Kingsley House Athletic Association which included swimming lessons for underprivileged people. McMain trained

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

nurses during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. It was for a time one of only two schools for nurses aides in the United States. In 1921, McMain helped establish the Tulane University School of Social Work, the fifth oldest institution of its kind in the United States. This was natural in that

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

personnel participated in governance of Kingsley House, and their faculty and students worked there. Also that year, she helped prepare the charter of the New Orleans Central Council of Social Agencies, the forerunner of the local Community Chest and later

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way o ...

, and served as its president in 1927. Entrance to Kingsley House in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Expansion of Kingsley House necessitated fund-raising efforts. McMain organized fund-raising by members of Kingsley House, and she garnered funds from benefactors, most notably New Orleans benefactor Frank Williams who donated $300,000 to the settlement house. Additionally, the New Orleans States newspaper ran a special edition in 1922 to benefit Kingsley House. McMain had presence nationally and internationally. She was active in the National Federation of Settlement and Neighborhood Centers, serving on its board of directors for six years. McMain was a member of the

executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the National Institute of Social Science. Through these connections, she relocated to Paris, France, for a year to help establish the L'Accueil Franco-Americain, a Parisian settlement house, founded by J. Catlin-Tauffleib, the American wife of a French General. This Parisian settlement house was located on the rue du Pré-St. Gervais, 40 bis, 19 ième

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'' ...

(Belleville), where she replicated many of her efforts at the Kingsley House in New Orleans. After a year, she returned to New Orleans. However, in its first 10 years, the L'Accueil Franco-Americain served approximately 70,000 people, an indication of its success. Soon after returning to the United States, her health declined, and she died in 1934, at home at Kingsley House, from

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

complicated by hypertension. There were funeral services at Kingsley House and in Baton Rouge followed by final

interment Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at the cemetery in Baton Rouge. Her funeral services were conducted by both a minister and a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Awards and honors

Eleanor McMain was awarded the 1918 Times-Picayune Loving Cup for her community service. However, the actual presentation of the award took place two years later, at the opening of the 1920 meeting of the National Conference of Social Workers which was held in New Orleans that year. In accepting the award at the conference, with an audience of an estimated 4000 people, McMain stated, "I have done what I best love to do. I live and share my life with the dear people of the neighborhood." McMain Secondary School in New Orleans is named in McMain's honor, the naming having occurred in 1930, while she was living. A biographical book about McMain was published in 1955. She was known colloquially as the "Jane Addams of New Orleans".

Early life and education

Career

Awards and honors

References

External links