TOUR INFO
Group Visits
The museum offers guided tours lasting 1 hour for prescheduled groups of adults or students (from kindergarten through adults). Maximum group size is 35; minimum size is 10. Groups are encouraged to schedule tours at least 2 weeks in advance. If your plans change and you must cancel your reservation, please notify the museum staff as quickly as possible.
One adult per 10 students is required for elementary, junior high, and high school groups. Teachers and adult volunteers are responsible for the conduct of their groups and encourage and enforce proper museum behavior. Teachers, chaperones, and tour guides must stay with the group at all times.
Teachers are encouraged to visit the museum in advance to preview the exhibits.
In addition to a guided tour, the following group activities are available and should be scheduled when you schedule your tour:
Scavenger Hunt: pre-K thru 3rd grade
Scavenger Hunt: 5th thru 8th grade
Story Time with Jane: K-4th grade
Immigration Dialogue: High school thru adult
Social Change Dialogue: College thru adult
Re-thinking Soup: High school thru adult
Urban Farm Tour: all ages
Scheduling a Tour
Advance reservations for group visits are required and may be made by calling the museum at (312) 413-5353. Please have available the following information:
Name, address, and phone number of school or organization
Name of accompanying teacher or group leader
Size of group
Age or grade level of students or group members
Date and time of visit, including alternate choices
Information on any special needs participants may have
In addition, the museum encourages teachers, when scheduling a tour, to discuss the content of the course for which the trip is scheduled so that our guides can tailor their tours to the specific interests of your group.
Content of Tours
Tours can begin with an introductory video, please request this video when scheduling.
"An Experiment in Democracy" (approx. 20 min.) An Experiment in Democracy is the film for anyone who is a fan of Jane Addams, passionate about social justice, or a student or teacher of history. With never-before-seen footage, The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum has produced a definitive short film of Addams’s life and the history of the Hull-House Settlement. Narrated by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (granddaughter of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt), An Experiment in Democracy traces the history of Hull-House from Jane Addams’s childhood to the contemporary work of both Hull-House Association and the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Viewers will be introduced to social reformers who lived at Hull-House, catch a rare glimpse of the settlement’s innovative programs, and learn about the legacy of Addams and Hull-House in Chicago and the world. English captions or Spanish subtitles available upon request.
You're invited to visit the historic Residents’ Dining Hall, the space where Hull-House residents joined leading intellectuals and visionaries including Upton Sinclair, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, Eleanor Roosevelt and other important social reformers to share meals and ideas, debate one another, and conspire to change the world.
Tours consist of visiting the original Hull-House mansion, where Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr founded the Settlement in 1889. In this museum-within-a-house, visitors will learn about the conditions immigrants faced in the 19th Ward, the unique work Hull-House residents, the life and work of Jane Addams, and the lasting impact of the Hull-House Settlement.
Arrival Procedures
Buses should pull into the turnout on Halsted Street immediately south of the museum. Buses may wait in the turnout while the group visits the museum if the driver stays with the vehicle.
Upon arrival, group leaders should ring the bell of the Hull Mansion. The museum may not be able to accommodate late arrivals. Please call the museum at (312) 413-5353 as soon as possible if there is a chance your group will not arrive at its scheduled time.