group Tours
Planning a Visit
The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum at the University of Illinois at Chicago welcomes both self-guided visitors and groups desiring a guided tour. The museum has materials suitable for all age groups, from preschool through adults.
The museum offers guided tours lasting 1 hour for prescheduled groups from kindergarten through adults. Maximum group size is 25; minimum size is 7. 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 immediately.
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 offered and should be scheduled when you schedule your tour:
Scheduling a Tour
Advance reservations for group visits are required and may be made by calling the museum at (312) 355-0864.
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.
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 escort group into the Resident’s Dining Hall, where they may visit the restrooms and learn about the museum before the start of their tour. The museum may not be able to accommodate late arrivals. Please call the museum at (312) 355-0864 as soon as possible if there is a chance your group will not arrive at its scheduled time.
Content of Tours
Tours begin in 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. Here groups will meet their tour guide and become acquainted with the museum complex.
Tours continue to the original Hull Home, 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 of the Hull-House residents, the life and work of Jane Addams, and the lasting impact of the Hull-House Settlement. Exhibits include:
Model of Hull-House Settlement
A Day in the Life
Childhood at Hull-House
Meet the Reformers
Sounds Like History
Jane Addams’ Bedroom
Hull-House Maps and Papers
Unfinished Business: Social Change Today
Note: A full tour of the Hull Home requires the use of a staircase. Please tell us if you would like your tour to include the first floor only.
Pre-tour and Post-tour Suggestions for Teachers
Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull-House and its Neighborhoods, 1889 - 1963
Facilities
The museum regrets that lunchroom facilities are not available. However, groups may make plans to visit one of the ethnic restaurants located in the nearby Italian or Greek communities. Bins for coats and lunches are available to visiting groups. Restrooms can be accessed in the Residents’ Dining Hall and the Hull Home.