JANE ADDAMS
- SOCIAL REFORMER -
G'day folks,
Today I feature someone I'd never heard of, but she was a woman ahead of her time. Humanitarian
and social reformer Jane Addams, born into wealth and privilege, devoted
herself to improving the lives of those less fortunate. Although she is best
remembered for establishing Hull House (a settlement house in Chicago for
immigrants and the poor), Addams was also deeply committed to promoting peace,
civil rights, and women's right to vote. Addams was a founding member of both
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American
Civil Liberties Union. As recipient of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize, she was the
first American woman to receive that honour. Jane Addams is considered by many
a pioneer in the field of modern social work.
Dates: September 6, 1860 -- May 21,
1935
Also
Known As: Laura
Jane Addams (born as), "Saint Jane," "Angel of Hull House"
Childhood in Illinois
Laura
Jane Addams was born September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois to Sarah Weber
Addams and John Huy Addams. She was the eighth of nine children, four of whom
did not survive infancy. Sarah Addams died a week after giving birth to a
premature baby (that also died) in 1863 when Laura Jane -- later known just as
Jane -- was only two years old.
Jane's
father ran a successful mill business, which enabled him to build a large,
beautiful home for his family. John Addams was also an Illinois state senator
and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln,
whose anti-slavery sentiments he shared. Jane learned as an adult that her
father had been a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad
and had helped escaped slaves as they made their way to Canada.
When Jane
was six, the family suffered another loss -- her 16-year old sister Martha
succumbed to typhoid fever.
The following year, John Addams married Anna Haldeman, a widow with two
sons. Jane became close to her new stepbrother George, who was only six months
younger than she. They attended school together and both planned to go to
college one day.
College Days
Jane
Addams had set her sights on Smith College, a prestigious women's school in
Massachusetts, with the goal of eventually earning a medical degree. After
months of preparing for the difficult entrance exams, 16-year-old Jane learned
in July 1877 that she'd been accepted at Smith.
John
Addams had different plans for Jane. After losing his first wife and five of
his children, he didn't want his daughter to move so far away from home. Addams
insisted that Jane enroll in Rockford Female Seminary, a Presbyterian-based
women's school in nearby Rockford, Illinois that her sisters had attended. Jane
had no other choice but to obey her father.
Rockford
Female Seminary schooled its students in both academics and religion in a
strict, regimented atmosphere. Jane settled into the routine, becoming a confident
writer and public speaker by the time she graduated in 1881. Many of her
classmates went on to become missionaries, but Jane Addams believed that she
could find a way of serving mankind without promoting Christianity. Although a
spiritual person, Addams did not belong to any particular church.
Difficult Times for Jane Addams
Returning
home to her father's house, Addams felt lost, uncertain about what to do next
with her life. Postponing any decision about her future, she chose to accompany
her father and stepmother on a trip to Michigan instead. The trip ended in
tragedy when John Addams became gravely ill and died suddenly of appendicitis
. A grieving Jane Addams, seeking direction in her life, applied to the
Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, where she was accepted for the fall of
1881.
Addams
coped with her loss by immersing herself in her studies at the medical college.
Unfortunately, only months after she'd begun classes, she developed chronic
back pain, caused by curvature of the spine. Addams had surgery in late 1882
which improved her condition somewhat, but following a lengthy, difficult
recovery period, decided that she would not return to school.
A Life-Changing Journey
Addams
next embarked upon a trip abroad, a traditional rite of passage among wealthy
young people in the nineteenth century. Accompanied by her stepmother and
cousins, Addams sailed to Europe for a two-year tour in 1883. What began as an
exploration of the sights and cultures of Europe became, in fact, an
eye-opening experience for Addams.
Addams
was stunned by the poverty she witnessed in the slums of European cities. One
episode in particular affected her deeply. The tour bus she was riding stopped
on a street in the impoverished East End of London. A group of unwashed,
raggedly-dressed people stood in line, waiting to purchase rotten produce that
had been discarded by merchants. Addams watched as one man paid for a spoiled
cabbage, then gobbled it down -- neither washed nor cooked. She was horrified
that the city would allow its citizens to live in such wretched conditions.
Grateful
for all of her own blessings, Jane Addams believed it was her duty to help
those less fortunate. She had inherited a large sum of money from her father,
but was not yet sure how she could best put it to use.
Jane Addams Finds Her Calling
Returning
to the U.S. in 1885, Addams and her stepmother spent summers in Cedarville and
winters in Baltimore, Maryland, where Addams' stepbrother George Haldeman
attended medical school. Mrs. Addams expressed her fond hope that Jane and
George would marry one day. George did have romantic feelings for Jane, but she
didn't return the sentiment. Jane Addams was never known to have had a romantic
relationship with any man.
While in
Baltimore, Addams was expected to attend countless parties and society
functions with her stepmother. She detested these obligations, preferring
instead to visit the city's charitable institutions, such as shelters and
orphanages. Still uncertain of what role she could play, Addams decided to go
abroad again, hoping to clear her mind. She traveled to Europe in 1887 with
Ellen Gates Starr, a friend from the Rockford Seminary.
Eventually,
inspiration did come to Addams when she visited Ulm Cathedral in Germany, where
she felt a sense of unity. Addams envisioned creating what she called a
"Cathedral of Humanity," a place where people in need could come not
only for help with basic needs, but also for cultural enrichment.*
Addams traveled to London, where she visited an organization that would serve
as a model for her project – Toynbee Hall. Toynbee Hall was a "settlement
house," where young, educated men lived in a poor
community in order to get to know its residents and to learn how best to serve
them. Addams proposed that she would open such a center in an American city.
Starr agreed to help her.
Founding Hull House
Jane
Addams and Ellen Gates Starr decided upon Chicago as the ideal city for their
new venture. Starr had worked as a teacher in Chicago and was familiar with the
city's neighborhoods; she also knew several prominent people there. The women
moved to Chicago in January 1889 when Addams was 28 years old.
Addams'
family thought her idea was absurd, but she would not be dissuaded. She and
Starr set out to find a large house situated in an underprivileged area. After
weeks of searching, they found a house in Chicago's 19th Ward that had been
built 33 years earlier by businessman Charles Hull. The house had once been
surrounded by farmland, but the neighborhood had evolved into an industrial
area.
Addams
and Starr renovated the house and moved in on September 18, 1889. Neighbors
were reluctant at first to pay them a visit, suspicious about what the two
well-dressed women's motives might be. Visitors, mainly immigrants, began to
trickle in, and Addams and Starr quickly learned to set priorities based upon
the needs of their clients. It soon became apparent that providing childcare
for working parents was a top priority.
Assembling
a group of well-educated volunteers, Addams and Starr set up a kindergarten
class, as well as programs and lectures for both children and adults. They
provided other vital services, such as finding jobs for the unemployed, caring
for the sick, and supplying food and clothing to the needy. (Pictures of Hull House)
Hull
House attracted the attention of wealthy Chicagoans, many of whom wanted to
help. Addams solicited donations from them, allowing her to build a play area
for the children, as well as to add a library, an art gallery, and even a post
office. Eventually, Hull House took up an entire block of the neighborhood.
Working for Social Reform
As Addams
and Starr familiarized themselves with the living conditions of the people
around them, they recognized the need for real social reform. Well-acquainted
with many children who worked more than 60 hours a week, Addams and her
volunteers worked to change child labor laws. They provided lawmakers with
information they had compiled and spoke at community gatherings. In 1893, the
Factory Act, which limited the number of hours a child could work, was passed
in Illinois.
Other
causes championed by Addams and her colleagues included improving conditions in
mental hospitals and poorhouses, creating a juvenile court system, and
promoting the unionization of working women. Addams also worked to reform
employment agencies, many of which used dishonest practices, especially in
dealing with vulnerable new immigrants. A state law was passed in 1899 that
regulated those agencies.
Addams
became personally involved with another issue: uncollected garbage on the
streets in her neighborhood. The garbage, she argued, attracted vermin and
contributed to the spread of disease. In 1895, Addams went to City Hall to
protest and came away as the newly-appointed garbage inspector for the 19th
Ward. She took her job seriously -- the only paying position she'd ever held.
Addams rose at dawn, climbing into her carriage to follow and monitor trash
collectors. After her one-year term, Addams was happy to report a reduced death
rate in the 19th Ward.
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Jane Addams: A National Figure
By the
early twentieth century, Addams had become well-respected as an advocate for
the poor. Thanks to the success of Hull House, settlement houses were
established in other major American cities. Addams developed a friendship with
President Theodore Roosevelt, who was impressed by the changes she had effected
in Chicago. The President stopped by to visit her at Hull House whenever he was
in town.
As one of
America's most admired women, Addams found new opportunities to give speeches
and to write about social reform. She shared her knowledge with others in the
hope that more of the underprivileged would receive the help they needed. In
1910, when she was fifty years old, Addams' published her autobiography, Twenty
Years at Hull House.
Addams
became increasingly involved in more far-reaching causes. An ardent advocate
for women's rights, Addams was elected vice-president of the National American
Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1911 and campaigned actively for women's
right to vote.
When
Theodore Roosevelt ran for re-election as a Progressive Party candidate in
1912, his platform contained many of the social reform policies endorsed by
Addams. She supported Roosevelt, but disagreed with his decision not to allow
African-Americans to be part of the party's convention. Committed to racial
equality, Addams had helped found the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Roosevelt went on to lose the election to
Woodrow Wilson.
World War I
A
lifelong pacifist, Addams advocated for peace during World War I
. She was strongly opposed to the United States entering the war and
became involved in two peace organizations: the Woman's Peace Party (which she
led) and the International Congress of Women. The latter was a worldwide
movement with thousands of members who convened to work on strategies for
avoiding war. Despite the best efforts of these organizations, the United
States entered the war in April 1917.
Addams
was reviled by many for her anti-war stance. Some saw her as anti-patriotic,
even traitorous. After the war, Addams toured Europe with members of the
International Congress of Women. The women were horrified by the destruction
they witnessed and were especially affected by the many starving children they
saw. When Addams and her group suggested that starving German children deserved
to be helped as much as any other child, they were accused of sympathizing with
the enemy.
Addams Receives the Nobel Peace Prize
Addams
continued to work for world peace, traveling around the world throughout the
1920s as the president of a new organization, the Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Exhausted by the constant travel, Addams
developed health problems and suffered a heart attack in 1926, forcing her to
resign her leadership role in the WILPF. She completed the second volume of her
autobiography, The Second Twenty Years at Hull House , in 1929.
During
the Great Depression,
public sentiment once again favored Jane Addams. She was widely praised
for all that she had accomplished and was honored by many institutions. Her
greatest honor came in 1931, when Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
for her work to promote peace worldwide. Because of ill health, she was
unable to travel to Norway to accept it. Addams donated most of her prize money
to the WILPF.
Jane
Addams died of intestinal cancer on May 21, 1935, only three days after her
illness had been discovered during exploratory surgery. She was 74 years old.
Thousands attended her funeral, fittingly held at Hull House.
The
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is still active today; the
Hull House Association was forced to close in January 2012 due to lack of
funding.
Clancy's comment: Always pleased to feature great humanitarians and social reformers. Jane Addams was one of them.
I'm ...
Think about this!
R.I.P
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