Miriam Tyler papers, 1935-1968

Old Resource ID was MTyler

Miriam Tyler worked as a caseworker for the Juvenile Protective Association from 1945 to 1955. Tyler worked in one of the poorest sections of Chicago bordered by Division Street on the north and 45th Street on the south. Her case reports document the struggles of the poor, blacks, Latinos, and the mentally ill in 1940s and 1950s Chicago. Miriam Tyler also lived in the Jane Club for eight years. In 1954 she left for the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where she became the first visiting teacher in the Staunton Public Schools.

Miriam Tyler was a colleague and friend of Jessie Binford. Jessie Binford met Jane Addams when she came to Binford's hometown, Marshalltown, Iowa, to speak about Hull-House and its work. After graduating from Rockford College, Binford volunteered in Marshalltown and spent her summers volunteering at Hull-House in Chicago. Binford moved into Hull-House in 1902 and lived there until 1963.

The Hull-House district branch of the newly founded Juvenile Protective League was organized with Binford as secretary.The Juvenile Protective League was created to identify conditions which put children at risk and to create agencies and institutions which nurtured children. In 1909 the League was reorganized and re-named the Juvenile Protective Association (JPA). From 1911 to 1916 Binford and the JPA worked to establish specialized courts to meet the needs of specific groups of offenders such as the Court of Domestic Relations, Boys' Court, and Morals Court (later the Women's Court). Binford was appointed JPA general superintendent (executive director) in November 1916, a position she held until her retirement in 1952.

During World War I, Binford was drawn into the newly emerging field of social hygiene, dedicated to protecting girls who were vulnerable to prostitution in Chicago. In the 1920s, she organized a series of investigations into vice conditions in Chicago. JPA reports revealed that police and governmental officials were in collusion with brothel owners. As a result of her work, Binford became nationally recognized in the field of Social Hygiene. Child welfare became professionalized during the 1940s, eclipsing the community work approach of Binford and the JPA. After her retirement in 1952, Binford continued to speak publicly on behalf of the JPA, but clashed with the new director's emphasis on professional training and casework.

In 1960, Binford emerged from retirement to join the campaign to preserve the area surrounding Hull-House, which was to be demolished to build the University of Illinois Chicago-Circle. Binford co-chaired the Harrison-Halsted Community group with Florence Scala, a long time neighborhood resident. In spite of their efforts, the Illinois Supreme Court refused to hear their case. Binford, Scala and a few others remained in Hull-House until June 1963. When it became obvious that they had lost their struggle and it was no longer safe to inhabit the buildings, Scala persuaded Binford to leave Hull-House. Binford returned to Marshalltown, Iowa to live and resided at the Tallcorn Motor Hotel. Binford maintained her interest in social concerns with her support of the 1960s struggles for civil rights and opposition to the Vietnam war. Binford died in Marshalltown in 1966 at the age of 90.

This collection contains correspondence and articles about Hull-House, the Juvenile Protective Association and Jessie Binford. Correspondence and newspaper clippings within this collection illustrate the last two decades of Binford's life, including her role in the campaign to save Hull-House buildings from demolition in 1963. These holdings also include Juvenile Protective Association case reports from the 1940s and 1950s.

Korr, Wynne Sandra, "Jessie Florence Binford," in Women Building Chicago: 1790-1990, Rima Lunin Schultz and Adele Hast, eds., Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.

This collection contains Juvenile Protective Association case records. No names are to be recorded from these reports. Photocopying of reports is prohibited.

Miriam Tyler donated Collection materials in 1977. Donated books were catalogued and moved to JAMC books.

This collection contains Juvenile Protective Association case records. No names are to be recorded from these reports. Photocopying of reports is prohibited.

Miriam Tyler papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Names
  • Binford, Jessie F. (Jessie Florence), 1876-1966
  • Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.).
  • Juvenile Protective Association of Chicago.
  • Tyler, Miriam -- Archives
• SubjectJuvenile delinquency.
• Geographic CoverageUnited States.