The Arts at Hull House: Craft and Conscience with David Sokol

Jane Addams' Hull-House was one of the most important and well known of the Settlement houses of the early 20th century. In addition to teaching the immigrant neighbors and their children about citizenship, health, and educational opportunities, there were art, music, and theater classes and performances.  Both the fine and decorative arts were taught, and opportunities for exhibition were created around the various buildings and even at a downtown gallery.  Many of the teachers and students were Jewish, and the participation of the faculty was closely tied to social justice concerns.
 

David Sokol is an Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he taught for 35 years and seventeen of those years he served as Chairperson of the Department. He  has been a visiting faculty member and a guest curator at several institutions, in the Chicago area and Elsewhere. He has also served as an Interim Director of the museum at Spertus Institute.

He has written widely on American art and architecture, in books, exhibition catalogs, articles, and book reviews.  He currently serves as an appointed member of the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission. David and his wife, Sandra have been members of Oak Park Temple since 1972.