Jane Addams

by Debra

Jane Addams was born in Illinois in 1860, the daughter of a Republican legislator and his wife. She was unusually well educated for American women of her era, receiving a classical education and a heavy dose of evangelical religion. While on a tour of Europe with a schoolmate, Ellen Gates Starr, she came across Toynbee Hall in the slums of London. Toynbee was the starting point for the "settlement house" movement--- a series of social programs, such as childcare and adult education---organized within the poorest communities of a city.

At home in Chicago, Jane and Ellen sought out a suitable piece of property to begin a settlement house of their own. They discovered the former country home of Charles Hull tucked in between the tenements and factories of a west side neighborhood in which "human need was so great, that there was no discussion of where to begin." Starting in September 1889, with a kindergarten for children and a reading circle for young women, Hull House programs eventually expanded to 12 locations covering half a city block. In time, services offered included education for children and adults, concerts, lectures, day care, a children's playground, a summer camp for children, an employment bureau, and the first juvenile court in Chicago.

Other "firsts" associated with Hull House include the first organized labor unions in Chicago---all of them for women, as well as being the first social agency to push for strong child labor laws and protection for women.

Jane Addams wrote 11 books, and served on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Conference of Social Work, and many others. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Peace, in 1931.

Hull House Association is still very much alive and well today, over 100 years later, spread throughout 6 community centers and 35 locations in Chicago, providing 90+ services to 225,000 people each year. Its committment remains to build... "on the enduring vision of Jane Addams, who foresaw a compassionate, interdependent world revolving around the principles of social justice, fairness, tolerance, respect, equal opportunity, civic responsibility and hope for every individual, family and community. Hull House Association itself is an evolving community where committed staff and volunteers serve, nurture and learn from each other and those who, at every stage of life, come to our door in need."