Addams, Jane

Jane Addams (1860–1935), a leader in social reform, women's rights, antiwar, and civil liberties issues, [Page 23]founded the social settlement Hull-House on Chicago's Near West Side in 1889. Hull-House was modeled on London's Toynbee Hall and was designed to enrich the lives of poor people in Chicago's immigrant community. She was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (1931). Among her activities, she was a founder of the National Federation of Settlements (president 1911–1935), the World War I Women's Peace Party (1915), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (served as first president 1919–1929), and the American Civil Liberties Union (1920). She was vice president of the National Woman's Trade Union League, served on the Chicago Board of Education, helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1909), was elected first woman president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections (later known as the National Conference of Social Work), served as first vice president of the National American Women's Suffrage Association, seconded the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt at the Progressive Party convention, and presided at the International Congress of Women at the Hague in 1915.

Addams belonged to the first generation of women college graduates. She graduated from the Rockford Female Seminary in 1881. She was granted a bachelor's degree the following year, when the school became accredited as the Rockford College for Women.

Reform projects that emerged from Hull-House included the Immigrants' Protective League, The Juvenile Protective Association, the first juvenile court in the United States, and a Juvenile Psychopathic Clinic or Institute for Juvenile Research. Through Hull-House efforts, Illinois enacted protective legislation for women and children, which in 1903 included a strong labor law and a compulsory education law. These efforts expanded to a national level when the Federal Children's Bureau was created in 1912 and a federal child labor law was passed in 1916.

Addams wrote 11 books, including Democracy and Social Ethics (1902), Newer Ideals of Peace(1907), The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (1909), Twenty Years at Hull-House (1910), A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil (1912), Women at the Hague (1915) with Emily Balch and Alice Hamilton, The Long Road of Woman's Memory (1916), Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922), The Second Twenty Years at Hull-House (1930), The Excellent Becomes the Permanent (1932), and My Friend, Julia Lathrop (1935). She authored multiple articles on subjects such as immigration, ethnicity, child welfare, juvenile justice, civil rights, life in the settlement house, industrial conditions, reform, and suffrage.

When speaking about the work of Hull-House, she emphasized caring for the children of the immigrants, nursing the sick, and offering classes for adults and children. She encouraged young women to assist in this work. Through her speeches, she raised money to support the activities of Hull-House. She also gave speeches publicly opposing America's entry into war. She was expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Jane Addams is a model of educational leadership. Beginning with her insistence on receiving a bachelor's degree as one of the first women college graduates and throughout her career as an advocate and provider of education for children and adults, her leadership is evident. The work of Hull-House, the enduring reform initiatives, her public speeches, her leadership roles, her fund-raising activities, and the books and articles she penned reflect her contributions as a leader in promoting education for all.

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