ABSTRACT
Social justice and social inequality are crucial issues for many sociologists and social activists today. Architecture was a popular method for reform, and many individuals designed their visions for a better social world through redesigned physical environments. Model towns, model homes, social settlements, utopian communities and cooperative housekeeping were all attempts to promote class, race and gender equality. The environmental approach to social reform was widely accepted by a broad segment of the population in the Progressive Era. Politicians, clergy, social scientists, feminists, socialists and the general public supported the belief that a better environment would facilitate better citizens, better health and a more stable labor force. A new name and a newly designed building became the outward symbols of the new mission in the community. The City Beautiful Movement flourished in the Progressive Era. Reformers such as Caroline Bartlett Crane and her club-women counterparts were very active in social housekeeping.
