Women in History: Jane Addams

She

• founded the Hull House, which was the first (and best known) settlement house in the US.
• was a sociologist.
• was a philosopher.
• was an author.
• was a suffragist and a pacifist.
• was the first woman from America (second woman overall) to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• traveled to Europe.
• was a Christian.
• helped start the Progressive Party.
• was the first vice-president for the Playground Association of America.
• was a charter member (and the most well-known woman member at the time) of the American Sociological Society.
• was the national chairman of the Woman’s Peace Party.
• was president of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (after serving, she would remain honorary president for her whole life).
• worked for labor reform.
• was a charter member for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
• was vice-president for the National American Women Suffrage Association.
• helped found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• served on Chicago’s Board of Education and within that chaired the School Management Committee.
• helped found the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy.
• was the first woman president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections.
• was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Yale.
• read every book in her village library.
• helped to form courts for juveniles.
• was pro-life!
• helped found the National Child Labor Committee.

Others said

• “Miss Addams shines, so respectful of everyone’s views, so eager to understand and sympathize, so patient of anarchy and even ego, yet always there, strong, wise and in the lead. No ‘managing’, no keeping dark and bringing things subtly to pass, just a radiating wisdom and power of judgement.” – Emily Balch
• “Jane Addams has been able to do more probably than any other living woman to popularize pacifism and to introduce radicalism into colleges, settlements, and respectable circles. The influence of her radical proteges, who consider Hull House their home center, reaches out all over the world.” – Elizabeth Dilling (and actually meant to be a criticism)
• “Jane Addams is a woman of indomitable energy and persistence, of enthusiasm and adaptability; intellectually she is strong and possesses a keen sense of a humour. She is a slender, delicate, pink-cheeked woman with a face as fine as a cameo and a manner unassuming and attractive.” The Indianapolis Journal
• “Miss Addams has been called “the greatest woman in the world,” the “mother of social service,” “the greatest woman internationalist” and the ‘first citizen of Chicago.'” – The New York Times
• “In honoring Miss Addams we also pay homage to the work which women can do for the cause of peace and fraternity among nations. Miss Addams does not speak much, but her quiet, kind-hearted personality creates an atmosphere of good-will, which instinctively calls forth the best in all.” – Halfdan Kort
• “I do not base her greatness on Hull House, important as that contribution is. Far more remarkable is the human trait of sticking to that project all her life. She made it a success. She stuck through when it was a success. That is a rare thing to do–to stick to a success.” – Carrie Chapman Catt

From http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/adda-jan.htm

She said

• “I am not one of those who believe – broadly speaking – that women are better than men. We have not wrecked railroads, nor corrupted legislatures, nor done many unholy things that men have done; but then we must remember that we have not had the chance.”
• “It is good for a social worker to be an artist too.”
• “We have all accepted bread from someone, at least until we were fourteen.”
• “Talk of reprisal and aggression can only increase the spirit of bitterness.”

“As women we are the custodians of the life of the ages and we will no longer consent to its reckless destruction. We are particularly charged with the future of childhood, the care of the helpless and the unfortunate, and we will no longer endure without protest that added burden of maimed and invalid men and poverty-stricken women and orphans which war places on us.”

“Hundreds of poor laboring men and women are being thrown into jails and police stations because of their political beliefs. In fact, an attempt is being made to deport an entire political party.

These men and women, who in some respects are more American in ideals than the agents of the government who are tracking them down, are thrust into cells so crowded they cannot lie down.

And what is it these radicals seek? It is the right of free speech and free thought; nothing more than is guaranteed to them under the Constitution of the United States, but repudiated because of the war.

It is a dangerous situation we face at the present time, with the rule of the few overcoming the voice of the many. It is doubly dangerous because we are trying to suppress something upon which our very country was founded – liberty.

The cure for the spirit of unrest in this country is conciliation and education – not hysteria. Free speech is the greatest safety valve of our United States. Let us give these people a chance to explain their beliefs and desires. Let us end this suppression and spirit of intolerance which is making of America another autocracy.”

From http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/janeadams.html

Awards

• Nobel Peace Prize
• Honorary Degree from Yale
• Took second in a poll by Independent (a magazine) titled “Who Was the Most Useful American”
• M. Carey Thomas Prize

From http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/jane-addams-1860-1935

From http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAaddams.htm

There is the Jane Addams Hull House Association.

There is the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards.

There is the Jane Addams Hull-House  Museum.

There is the Jane Addams College of Social Work.

There is the Jane Addams Resource Corporation.

There is the Jane Addams Senior Caucus.

There is the Jane Addams Book Shop.

There is the Jane Addams School for Democracy.

There is the Jane Addams Recreation Trail.

There is a Jane Addams Memorial Park.

There are also elementary, middle, and high schools named after her.

Sources:

• Jane Addams – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Jane Addams biography
• Jane Addams – Biography
• Jane Addams
• Jane Addams
• Jane Addams
• Feminist History E-Tutorial – Jane Addams – Feminists for Life of America – Pro Woman Pro Life
• Jane Addams
• Jane Addams A Foe of War and Need
• Jane Addams Memorial Tollway
• Open Collections Program: Women Working, Jane Addams (1860-1935)

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