A Head Start for Children in West Englewood
Southwest Side
As part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Sargent Shriver, assembled a panel of experts in child development to create educational programs to meet the needs of young children impacted by social and economic inequality. These efforts led to Project Head Start, a comprehensive child development program designed to help communities meet the needs of preschool children. The program began as an eight-week demonstration program launched in the summer of 1965 and included medical and dental care, education to prepare preschoolers for the classroom, and counseling services for parents.
One of these first programs was held at Luke O’Toole Elementary School in the West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. The program was documented by the school’s principal, Mary Florence O’Shea. O’Shea donated a collection of 77 photographs from the 1965 program along with her papers donated to Dominican University Archives.
After a successful summer session, the Head Start began its first full school year in fall of 1966. The program continues today, serving over one million children and families each year with grants administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
