Hamilton Madison House - Timeline 1898

1898 - 1929

1898 Madison House of the Downtown Ethical Society is founded at 300 Madison Street.
1900 Through the leadership of Bella Moses, mother of Robert Moses and a member of the Board of Directors, Madison House begins constructing a permanent summer camp. A temporary summer camp is set up in Pelham Bay Park.
1902 Hamilton House is founded on Hamilton Street.
1910 Madison House moves to 216 Madison Street.
1915 Hamilton House moves from Hamilton Street to 72 Market Street.
1920 Boys and girls summer camps are replaced by Camp Rossbach at Tomkins’ Corners near Peekskill. This camp later becomes Camp Madison and subsequently Camp Madison-Felicia.
1929 Madison House build a house at 226 Madison Street to accommodate its expanded programs and services.

1930 - 1954

1930-40’s During the next ten years, Madison House provides facilities for WPA workers who serve the neighborhood’s cultural, health and social needs. Mrs. Josiah Willard and Helen Greenebaum share the task of managing the House during the war years.
1947 Friction between the pre-war community and the new African-American and Latino population escalates. Geoffrey Wiener becomes Headworker. The organization’s budget is $12,000.
1949 Alfred E. Smith Houses opens half of the planned buildings. Hamilton House is given a room at 186 South Street to operate social service programs for the first group of tenants.
1951 The first Chinese-serving program, the Golden Age Club of Chinatown, is established privately by a group of Chinese senior citizens at Hamilton House.
1952 Hamilton House offers counseling and family care work as an experimental project through the Family Services Division of the Community Service Society.
1953 The second half of Smith Houses is completed and Hamilton House is awarded the contract to provide social services. Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the principal speaker at the dedication ceremony in March 1953.
1954 Hamilton and Madison House merge into the space allocated by the Alfred E. Smith Houses. Mrs. Shirley Chisholm is Director of the Child Care Center.

1967 - 1979

1967-9 Hamilton-Madison House establishes an Adolescent Service Center and Big Brother and Sister Corps and Services to Chinese Immigrants.
1972 Hamilton-Madison House, one of the sponsors of the Chinatown Health Clinic, receives a grant from the New York Foundation for the general operation of the clinic.
1974 The first Chinese-language-based children’s behavioral health facility, Chinatown Children’s Consultation Center (CCCC), in New York City at 103 Canal Street.
1976 Frank T. Modica becomes Executive Director
1978 The first Chinatown Banquet is held for fundraising purposes
1979 Chinatown Family Consultation Center expands to treat patients in 12 Asian dialects & short-term programs aid the Indo-Chinese boat people

1980 Hamilton-Madison House, Grand Street Settlement and University Settlement provide at-risk youth with an employment training program funded by the NYC Department of Employment.
1981 Head Start expands from 95 to 145 children.
1982 The State Office of Mental Health asks HMH to design a bilingual/bicultural program for the city’s Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Southeast Asian communities - Asian American Mental Health Demonstration Project.
1983 The Korean Clinic, the first program in another borough, is opened in Flushing. Also, the first alcoholism clinic specializing in the Chinese population in the United States forms - Chinatown Alcoholism Project.
1984 A carpentry training program for immigrants and a remedial tutoring program for neighborhood youth are initiated.
1985 Asian American Mental Health Services becomes a permanent program funded by the NYC Department of Mental Health.
1986 A group of international settlement workers visit Hamilton-Madison House to observe its unique mental health program operations. HMH begins computerizing fiscal and fundraising operations. The first Gala is celebrated to honor four prominent settlement workers and alumni of Hamilton-Madison House: Dr. Algernon Black, Helen L. Buttenweiser, Shirley Chisholm Hardwick, and Lillian Robbins.
1987 A $4.1 million budget is approved.
1988 Senior Services expands to include a daily hot lunch program and an intergenerational program for teens to escort homebound seniors.

1990 - 1997

1990-3 Bicultural/Bilingual Chinese Master of Social Work Project is initiated with Hunter College School of Social Work to place 5 Chinese-speaking social workers at HMH.
1991 The Golden Age Club is reformed and changes its name to City Hall Senior Center
1992 Ryan White Teen Outreach Project served the needs of the HIV/AIDS at-risk and affected youth and their families in Smith Houses and the Catherine Street Shelter.
1994 A Supported Housing facility, the only one of its kind specializing in permanent housing for Asian American mental health patients, opens in Queens.
1996 The Louis DeSalvio Head Start Center opened at South Bridge Towers, Knickerbocker Village Senior Center opens, and Peer Educators from the Ryan White Teen Outreach Project visit Berlin to interact with their German counterparts.
1997 Behavioral Health Programs and Child Care Programs centralize. Three new programs start: Computer literacy classes for children and adults; a Citizenship Clinic, in collaboration with New York Association for New Americans and Association of Lower East Side Settlements; and Two Bridges Tower Community Center

1999 - 2008

1999 20th Annual Chinatown Banquet breaks attendance and fundraising record with over 1,000 people.
2000 The Calder Foundation funds the new Children’s Computer Literacy Center for kindergarten age children.
2001 In response to September 11, 10 social workers are hired to provide free grief and disaster counseling in 10 languages.
2002 City Hall Senior Center celebrates its 50th Anniversary and moves to a new location at 100 Gold Street.
2003 The Chinatown Resource Center opens.
2004 The first Chinese-American, Chi Chu, is elected Board President.
2007 Private Day Care is established to begin serving the gentrifying community of Two Bridges/Chinatown.
2008 A $14 million budget is approved. The House begins treating clients for Compulsive Gambling.
2009 The House receives a grant to add 20 new supported housing beds. The Music School expands to include over 100 students and the Music Guild is formed.
2010 Frank T. Modica, the House's Executive Director, retires after 34 years of leadership. Mark Handelman begins as the new Executive Director.

History