NCL statement mourning closing of Hull House – National Consumers League
January 23, 2012
Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org
Washington, DC–Sally Greenberg, Executive Director, National Consumers League issued this statement today:
The National Consumers League (NCL) laments the news that the historic Hull House in Chicago is going to be closing. NCL’s roots are closely tied to Hull House. It was inhabited for years by the first head of the NCL, Florence Kelley, who did much of her earliest pioneering work from Hull House and was inspired and supported in that work by her dear friend Jane Addams and many other notable residents.
Kelley met and worked closely with other renown Hull House residents and Progressive-era reformers – including Grace Abbot, Frances Perkins, Julia Lathrop, and Alice Hamilton, and of course Jane Addams.
In a nation with as much wealth as we enjoy here in the United States, it is indeed a sad commentary on our values that a historic institution like Hull House that has, throughout its history, provided basic services to the poor would be forced to close its doors.
The Board of Directors and staff of the NCL, in light of our deep historical connections to Hull House and its mission, are greatly saddened at this news. We wish the institution well and we thank those members of the Hull House Board who worked so hard all these years to keep a historical icon working so long and so hard to provide assistance to those in greatest need.
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About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
