GANNETT, ALICE (1876-23 May 1962), prominent settlement-house worker and reformer, was born in Bath, Maine to Henry and Mary Chase Gannett. Henry Gannett (1846-1914), is largely considered to be the father of topographic mapping in the United States. Gannett Peak on the Continental Divide was named in his honor. Alice attended schools in Washington, D.C., and earned a degree from Bryn Mawr College. She taught school 3 years before traveling to New York City in 1906, where she took a room in a tenement among poor social conditions, there becoming devoted to the settlement-house idea and the promotion of social welfare. She served briefly at Welcome Hall in Buffalo, N.Y., before returning to New York City, where she headed Lenox Hill House for 6 years. She also served as associate director of the Henry St. Settlement in New York for many years. Gannett came to Cleveland in 1917, heading Goodrich House (see GOODRICH-GANNETT NEIGH. CENT.) at 1420 E. 31st St. for 30 years. During her tenure, the settlement established a tradition of free thought and speech, commitment to neighborhood, and improved working conditions. Gannett was president of the Cleveland Fed. of Settlements for 5 years, of the Natl. Fed. of Settlements for 2 years, and headed the CONSUMERS LEAGUE OF OHIO for 8 years. She was also a trustee of the Welfare Fed. of Cleveland. In the 1950s she founded the Neighborhood Group, a senior citizens' organization for civic improvement. Gannett died in Harrisburg, Pa., and is buried in Washington, D.C.
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