Jane Addams
by A.Z. Jane Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois. When she was two her mother passed away and she was raised by her father. Jane Addams graduated from Rockford Female Seminary in 1881 and then attended Woman's Medical College in Pennsylvania. She later left school because of her health and chronic back pain. In 1888, when visiting old classmates she and Ellen Starr planned to start settlement house. They choose the Hull Mansion witch was being used as a warehouse that was surrounded by immigrant neighborhoods. This became known as Hull house. The neighborhoods surrounding Hull house were some of the poorest in Chicago. She said she wanted Hull House to “Aid in the solutions of life in a great city, to help our neighbors build responsible, self-sufficient lives for themselves and their families.” Jane Addams also wrote articles, did most of the fund-raising personally and was on many social work, social welfare and settlement house boards. She was also involved with social reform, including housing and sanitation issues, factory inspection, rights of immigrants, women and children, and the 8-hour day. She was also the vice president National Woman Suffrage Association, worked with the Peace Party and helped establish the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Also she was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1931 Jane Addams was awarded the Noble Peace Prize. She passed away in 1935. |
http://www.hullhouse.org/aboutus/history.html (Information / Pictures
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/addamsjane/p/jane_addams.htm (Information) |