Eleanor McMain

Eleanor McMain (1868 - 1934) was a settlement house worker and progressive reformer in early 20th century New Orleans.^[1] McMain served as head resident of Kingsley House, the largest and most influential settlement house in the American South, transforming Kingsley House into a focal point of progressive movements in the New Orleans area.^[2] Additionally she furthered women's causes at a time of suffrage.^[3]

Early Life and Education

Of Scottish-Irish, protestant heritage, Eleanor Laura McMain was born on March 2, 1868, on a farm in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, along the Amite River.^[1] Shortly thereafter, the family relocated to Baton Rouge so that her father could serve in administrative posts at Louisiana State University. Her family valued education and provided young McMain with a private school education. McMain briefly served as a teacher in Baton Rouge before subsequently relocating to New Orleans to further her training at the Free Kindergarten Association, an Episcopal sponsored effort to provide innovations in pre-school education.^[2]

Career

In 1900, McMain was appointed director of Kingsley House, a settlement house then located in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans, a center dedicated to improving integration of poor people into society. To prepare for her new role, McMain studied at two Chicago settlement houses, Hull House and Chicago Center.^[2] Kingsley House progressed rapidly under McMain's leadership. By 1902, McMain reorganized Kingsley House on a nonsectarian basis.^[1] During her tenure, Kingsley house became a community center with a medical clinic, a kindergarten, an adult night school, a library, and the first vocational school in New Orleans. It additionally became a social center with concerts, dances, athletic events, and organized recreation for children.^[2]

McMain contributed to other causes for civic reform in the city of New Orleans. In 1904, she became president of the local Tenement House Association, and in this role she publicized the findings of the housing survey, resulting in public attention to substandard urban living conditions.^[4] In 1905, McMain lead a clean-up and education campaign to help eradicate the yellow fever epidemic in the Irish Channel of New Orleans.^[1] She became the first president of the Women's League of New Orleans. She was a founder of an anti-tuberculosis association in New Orleans. She lobbied the Louisiana State Legislature for child labor laws and, in 1910, achieved passage of Women's League sponsored compulsory education.^[4] She trained Red Cross nurses during World War I.^[2] In 1921, McMain helped establish the Tulane University School of Social Work, the fifth oldest institution of its kind in the United States.^[3] Also that year, she helped prepare the charter of the New Orleans Central Council of Social Agencies, the forerunner of the local Community Chest and later United Way, and served as its president in 1927.^[1]

McMain had presence nationally and internationally. She was active in the National Federation of Settlement and Neighborhood Centers, serving on its board of directors for several years. She relocated to Paris, France, for a year to help establish the L'Accueil Franco-Americain, a Parisian settlement house, subsequently returning to New Orleans. Soon after returning, her health declined, and she died in 1934 from heart disease complicated by hypertension.^[1]

Awards and honors

Eleanor McMain was awarded the 1918 Times-Picayune Loving Cup for her community service.^[2] McMain Secondary School in New Orleans is named in McMain's honor. A biographical book about McMain was published in 1955.^[5]

References

External links

• A photograph of Eleanor McMain can be viewed on-line.
• Kingsley House
• McMain Secondary School