Frances Molinaro papers, 1900-1985

  • IdentificationMSMoli75
  • TitleFrances Molinaro papers MSMoli75
  • PublisherSpecial Collections
  • LanguageEnglish
  • RepositorySpecial Collections
  • Physical Description4.5 Linear feet
  • Date1900-1985
  • AbstractSocial worker Frances Molinaro (1896-1986) had a forty-seven year involvement with the Hull-House settlement house in Chicago, first as a volunteer and later as an employee. collection includes a photograph album containing photos taken in and around the University of Chicago settlement house, ca. 1900, newspaper clippings collected by Molinaro commemorating Jane Addams and Hull-House, correspondence, Hull-House publications, and two photographs.
  • OriginationMolinaro, Frances, 1896-1986

Old Resource ID was FMolinaro

Social worker Frances Molinaro (1896-1986) had a forty-seven year involvement with the Hull-House settlement house in Chicago, first as a volunteer and later as an employee. Molinaro was introduced to Hull-House at the age of three, when her mother Caroline was invited by Hull-House co-founder Jane Addams to demonstrate traditional textile craftwork in the settlement Labor Museum. Young Frances accompanied her mother and joined in Hull-House activities while her mother wove and spun for visitors to the museum.

A tailor's apprentice at thirteen, Molinaro studied design and tailoring in high school, intending a career in design. In September of 1920, she took what she believed would be a temporary job at Hull-House. However, she remained at the settlement, serving in a variety of positions including receptionist, housekeeper, tour guide, nurse's aide, secretary, and home visitor. When Hull-House moved from its Halsted Street location on the Near West Side of Chicago, Molinaro continued to work at the new Hull-House Association headquarters at 3212 Broadway.

Molinaro retired in 1967 and moved to Mt. Prospect, Illinois. After seeing an article calling for volunteers written by another former Hull-House resident Mary A. Young, Molinaro began volunteer work with a suburban senior citizen organization. In March 1968, she was elected to the Chicago Senior Citizen's Hall of Fame and in 1969, she was awarded the Jane Addams Medallion at Hull-House Association's 79th Annual Meeting and Dinner. Molinaro died on November 15, 1986.

The collection includes a photograph album containing photos taken in and around the University of Chicago settlement house, ca. 1900, newspaper clippings collected by Molinaro commemorating Jane Addams and Hull-House, correspondence, Hull-House publications, and two photographs. The materials are arranged in chronological order.

Frances Molinaro papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago

  • Names
    • Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.).
    • Molinaro, Frances, 1896-1986 -- Archives
    • University of Chicago. Settlement. -- Pictorial works
  • SubjectMidwest Women's History.