Posted
on September 6, 2014
I
hope you have at least heard of Jane Addams, for she is one of the
most important reformers and social activists in the history of the
U.S.!
Born on this date in 1860, Addams was active during the Progressive Era. According to Wikipedia, she “helped turn the US to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health, and world peace.”
She
was a sort of social worker and public philosopher; she was a public
speaker and author and teacher; she was a leader in women's suffrage
and in world peace. She was also very practical; she was a pioneer in
creating settlement houses, working with other women to create Hull
House in Chicago.
What's
a settlement house?
In
the late 1800s and early 1900s, people had a goal of getting the irch
and poor in society to live more closely together and to form
community bonds. The main idea was to establish “settlement houses”
in poor urban areas, and then to invite middle class volunteers to
live there and provide services such as day care and health care to,
and to share knowledge and culture with, the low-income neighbors.
The
settlement movement started in London, and that's where Addams went
to study the nuts-and-bolts of running a settlement house. By 1913
there were more than 400 settlements in 32 U.S. states.
Addams
started Hull House with her friend Ellen Gates Starr, and the two of
them were the first two residents of the huge, run-down mansion.
Partly due to Addams's money and energy, Hull House included a night
school for adults, clubs for kids, a public kitchen, a gymnasium, a
bathhouse, a book bindery, a music school, and drama group and
theatre, an art gallery, apartments, a library, meeting rooms, an
employment bureau, and a lunchroom. Eventually it became a
13-building complex that included an outdoor playground and a summer
camp.
Residents
of Hull House did research and analysis, study and debate. What did
they research and study and debate? Everything from housing and
overcrowding, midwifery and garbage collection, to cocaine and
tuberculosis, typhoid fever and fatigue. Residents of Hull House,
including Addams, grew from working on establishing good relations
with their neighbors, and helping them in very practical ways, to
city- and state-wide campaigns for stricter child-labor laws,
protection of working women, and other policies and laws. Addams even
helped start the new Progressive Party and supported Theodore
Roosevelt in his attempt to win back the U.S. presidency under the
banner of that party.
Addams
was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Now,
that's an amazing honor!
Also
on this date:
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ahead:
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