Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, History

Founded in 1919, Merrick House has served the residents of Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood continuously for one hundred years. Despite the longevity of this settlement house, there has been no substantial scholarly works published on its history. This thesis focuses on contextualizing the founding of Merrick House and its operation over roughly forty years in the same neighborhood within the national settlement movement of the early twentieth century. It also explores the significance of Catholicism within the institution and its close association with the Christ Child Society of Greater Cleveland through the examination of manuscript collections held by the Western Reserve Historical Society as well as a variety of published sources.

Committee: John Grabowski PhD (Advisor); John Grabowski PhD (Committee Chair); John Flores PhD (Committee Member); Renee Sentilles PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History