Jane Addams was an urban reformer who actively worked for social justice, particularly in the rapidly growing urban area of Chicago, Illinois

Born September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois, Jane Addams received her A.B. from Rockford College (then Rockford Seminary) in 1882. After a few years at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, she became ill and abandoned her studies in favor of travel. After observing the social experimentation at Toynbee Hall in London in 1887, she established Hull House, a settlement house that acted as a base for her and other women activists' pursuits. On September 18, 1889, she picked the location on Halstead Street because it was in a relatively run-down, poor, and largely immigrant part of Chicago. While the overall goal of the ...